Ecuador has lodged a formal protest with the United States after federal immigration officers attempted to enter its consulate in Minneapolis, an incident the country's foreign ministry has condemned as an 'attempted incursion'. The ministry said it sent a 'note of protest' to the US embassy in Ecuador demanding such actions 'not be repeated'.
Video footage shows a consulate employee rushing to the door as masked officers try to force entry. It is unclear whether the officers belonged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection. An officer is heard saying, 'If you touch me, I will grab you', to which the employee replies, 'You cannot enter here. This is a consulate. This is foreign government property.' The officers eventually left, and another employee suggested they appeared to be following people into the building.
Ecuador's foreign ministry stated that consulate staff 'prevented the entry of the ICE officer to the consular headquarters, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were in that moment at the consular headquarters'. Emergency protocols were implemented, and the ministry demanded that such acts not be repeated at any Ecuadorian consular office in the United States.
Under the Vienna Conventions, diplomatic premises are considered sovereign territory of the represented nation and are protected by diplomatic immunity, prohibiting unauthorised entry by host country officers. The United States is a signatory to these treaties. The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
The incident occurs amid heightened tensions in Minneapolis, where around 3,000 masked and heavily armed immigration officers have been deployed as part of President Trump's mass deportation campaign. Recent enforcement actions have drawn scrutiny, including the arrest of Ecuadorian nationals such as five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, whose images went viral. A federal judge temporarily blocked their removal, and in a separate case, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz threatened to hold ICE chief Todd Lyons in contempt for repeated court order violations.
Minneapolis City Council member Elliot Payne said he spoke with the Ecuadorian ambassador after the incident, emphasising that the consulate must remain a safe place. University of Minnesota law professor Ana Pottratz Acosta described the attempted entry as 'unprecedented and potentially dangerous', reflecting broader issues with the administration's deportation push.
