Did mayor frey issue an executive order to NOT cooperate with ICE
Executive summary
Mayor Jacob Frey did sign Executive Order 2025-02 that explicitly prohibits federal, state, or local immigration authorities from using City‑owned parking lots, ramps, garages, or vacant lots as staging, processing, or operations sites for civil immigration enforcement [1] [2]. At the same time, his public rhetoric — demanding ICE leave Minneapolis and saying the city “would not help federal agents enforce immigration law” — goes beyond the narrow text of that order and reflects a broader refusal to cooperate in civil immigration enforcement, though not a blanket legal bar on all forms of assistance [3] [4].
1. The executive order: what it actually forbids
The formal document Mayor Frey signed — Executive Order 2025-02 — is precise: it “refuses the use of City property for civil immigration enforcement activities” and directs city departments to identify and post City‑owned parking lots, ramps, garages and vacant lots as off‑limits for staging or processing by immigration authorities [1] [2]. City materials and news releases repeatedly describe the order as preventing ICE from staging on municipal lots and codifying that restriction into the Separation Ordinance framework [5] [2].
2. What the order does not say: limits of the legal prohibition
The executive order stops short of a broad statutory or constitutional injunction against federal activity inside Minneapolis; it is focused on City‑controlled property and does not, on its face, criminalize or legally block ICE operations on private property or public streets, nor does it expressly prohibit all forms of police cooperation with federal agents in criminal investigations [1] [5]. Local reporting notes uncertainty about how the city intends to enforce the parking‑lot ban and acknowledges that the City cannot physically prevent ICE from being in Minneapolis [6] [2].
3. Public statements and political posture: “do not help” as policy stance
Beyond the order, Mayor Frey publicly demanded ICE leave the city, sought a temporary restraining order from federal court to halt operations, and told the public the city “would not help federal agents enforce immigration law,” framing Minneapolis policy as refusing cooperation with civil immigration enforcement [3] [7] [4]. Those statements have political force — they guide departmental priorities and community expectations — but they are not the same as an executive order that legally bars every form of interaction with federal law enforcement [4] [7].
4. How others interpret the distinction and the legal risks
Federal officials, including the president, framed Frey’s words as a refusal to cooperate and warned of consequences; Reuters reported Trump’s claim that Minneapolis “would not help federal agents enforce immigration law,” and that became part of a broader national dispute including threats to cut funding and a DOJ inquiry into whether local leaders impeded enforcement [4]. Local outlets and the City itself, however, emphasize the concrete municipal step — banning the use of City parking facilities — and point to the Separation Ordinance as the locus of binding policy, underscoring that rhetoric and enforceable policy are related but distinct [5] [2].
5. Bottom line: direct answer to the question
Yes and no: Mayor Frey issued an executive order that explicitly prohibits ICE and similar agencies from using City‑owned parking lots, ramps, garages, or vacant lots for civil immigration enforcement operations (yes — executive order 2025‑02) [1] [2]. He also publicly declared that the city would not assist federal agents in enforcing immigration law and pursued legal and political avenues to stop federal operations — a broader refusal to cooperate in practice and rhetoric — but the executive order itself is narrowly tailored to City property and does not, by its text alone, constitute a blanket legal ban on all cooperation with ICE (no — not a comprehensive order forbidding any cooperation) [4] [5].