Ecuador file complaint after ICE agent attempts to enter Minneapolis consulate
Ecuador has lodged a formal diplomatic complaint after a US immigration agent tried to enter its consulate in Minneapolis without permission in an incident that has added to already high tensions around immigration enforcement in the city.
According to Ecuador’s foreign ministry, an agent from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to access the consulate on Tuesday morning. Staff inside the building stopped the agent, acting “to guarantee the protection of the Ecuadoreans who were inside the consulate at the time,” the ministry said.
Consular buildings are protected under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which states that authorities from the host country cannot enter without approval from consular officials. Ecuador said no such consent was given.
Video shared by Ecuadorean media and verified by US outlets shows a tense exchange at the entrance. A consulate employee is heard telling the agent, “This is the Ecuadorean consulate, you’re not allowed to enter.” The agent replies, “If you touch me, I’ll grab you.” The staff member then repeats that the agent cannot enter before shutting the door.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry said it sent an official “note of protest” to the US Embassy in Quito, asking that “acts of this nature don’t happen again.” US authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security, have not commented publicly on the incident.
Witnesses in nearby shops said immigration officers appeared to be pursuing people who ran into the consulate. One woman told reporters: “I saw the officers going after two people in the street, and then those people went into the consulate and the officers tried to go in after them.” She added that the agents “weren’t able to enter the consulate, from what I could see.”
The confrontation comes amid a major immigration operation in Minnesota, with around 3,000 ICE and border agents deployed there under orders from President Donald Trump. The crackdown has caused widespread protests in Minneapolis, particularly after the fatal shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti on 24th January and the killing of Renee Good on 7th January by ICE agents.
Public anger has also been fuelled by other high-profile incidents, including the detention of a five-year-old boy outside his school in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, Trump said he would “de-escalate” immigration and border operations “a little bit” in the state.
While Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, is generally seen as an ally of Trump, the protest marks a rare point of friction between the two governments. Ecuador has previously worked closely with Washington on trade and security, but its government said the attempted entry into the consulate crossed a clear legal line.
