The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has criticized Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for their refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with crimes. According to DHS, nearly 470 individuals identified as criminal illegal aliens have been released back into Minnesota communities since President Trump took office.
In a recent Fox News interview, correspondent Griff Jenkins questioned Mayor Frey about the case of Victoria Eileen Harwell, who was killed in August 2024 by German Llangari Inga, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador. Jenkins asked why local authorities did not cooperate with ICE detainers after Llangari Inga was arrested for vehicular homicide. “Are you familiar with Victoria Eileen Harwell? An Ecuadorian illegal immigrant in August of 2024, driving drunk, crashed head-on into Victoria Harwell, killing her…Local Hennepin County released [him] not once, but twice, and didn’t cooperate with ICE detainers. Why not – since you’re in favor of removing them – cooperate with ICE, whether you have this sanctuary policy, which DHS says it is – you call it a ‘separation ordinance’ – why not just cooperate, and make it safer for everyone involved: The community, the officers, and even the migrants?” Jenkins asked.
Mayor Frey responded: “My position on this is pretty straightforward: If you commit a crime, if you commit fraud, if you commit a carjacking, or a murder, you should be investigated, charged, prosecuted, held accountable, and yes, arrested and put in jail. Um, that is my position if you commit a crime, and you are a problem on the streets of the city of Minneapolis that has made us less safe.”
Court documents show that Llangari Inga’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit at the time of arrest. He was initially detained on August 4th but released by Hennepin County Jail without notification to ICE two days later despite an active detainer request. He was rearrested on May 10th the following year on an outstanding warrant for vehicular homicide; again ICE placed a detainer but he was released three days later without notification to federal authorities. ICE eventually apprehended him on May 16th.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated: “Tim Walz and Jacob Frey's dangerous sanctuary policies directly RELEASE criminal illegal aliens from jails and put them back on the streets to victimize more innocent Americans. Victoria Eileen Harwell's killer NEVER should have been RELEASED from Minnesota jails,” she said. “Despite Minneapolis-area officials refusing to honor this criminal illegal alien’s detainer TWICE, ICE officers tracked him down and removed this criminal from Minnesota’s streets. This is the exact reason we are in Minneapolis: to get criminals off the streets that Mayor Frey has refused to turn over to ICE law enforcement.”
