MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to enter Ecuador's consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday but was blocked by consulate staff, prompting Quito to lodge a formal diplomatic protest.
Note Of Protest: The ministry said it delivered a formal "note of protest" to the U.S. Embassy in Quito demanding that such incidents "not be repeated." Its statement described the event as an "attempted incursion into the Ecuadorean Consulate in Minneapolis by ICE agents."
According to the Foreign Ministry, consulate staff prevented the agent from entering, protecting Ecuadorean nationals who were inside the building at the time. Nearby shop employees who witnessed the encounter told Reuters they saw immigration agents attempt to enter the consulate after pursuing two people into the building.
"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," said one woman who asked not to be named for fear of federal retribution. "From what I could see, the agents weren’t able to enter the consulate."
Under international agreements, embassies, consular offices and other diplomatic compounds are generally regarded as the sovereign territory of the nation they represent and are protected from unauthorized entry by agents of another government.
Context: Operation Metro Surge
The incident occurred amid a large-scale deportation operation known as Operation Metro Surge, which involved roughly 3,000 ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents deployed to Minnesota under orders from President Donald Trump. The deployment has coincided with two fatal shootings on Minneapolis streets and ignited weeks of protests locally and nationwide.
As political pressure mounted to reduce tensions, Tom Homan, the administration's immigration official, met with the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota on Tuesday in efforts to defuse the situation.
Reuters said neither the State Department nor the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and the Border Patrol, immediately responded to requests for comment. Ecuador's Foreign Ministry provided few additional operational details.
Reporting by Brad Brooks in Minneapolis and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Michelle Nichols and Thomas Derpinghaus.
