Ecuador said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent attempted to enter its consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday, as an expanded federal immigration operation continued amid weeks of unrest in the city.
The agent was prevented from entering by consular staff, prompting Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal protest with the U.S. Embassy in Quito and demand that similar incidents not be repeated.
The ministry said the actions of consular officials ensured the protection of Ecuadorean nationals who were inside the building at the time.
Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry described the episode as an attempted incursion and said the agent tried to enter the premises at about 11:00 local time.
Officials said they did not consent to ICE entering the consulate.
Under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consular offices are considered inviolable and cannot be entered by host country authorities without permission, except in limited emergency situations.
In video shared by Ecuadorean media and not independently verified, a consular official is heard telling an ICE agent, “this is the consulate, you're not allowed in here.”
Ecuador said it immediately delivered a letter of protest to the U.S. embassy, a rare note of discord despite generally cooperative relations between President Daniel Noboa and the Trump administration.
The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale immigration enforcement effort involving roughly 3,000 ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents deployed to Minnesota.
The operation has coincided with fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, including intensive care nurse Alex Pretti on January 24 and Renee Good several weeks earlier, sparking sustained protests in Minneapolis and beyond.
As pressure mounted to de-escalate, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, met with Minnesota’s governor and the mayor of Minneapolis on Tuesday.
President Trump later said he would scale back immigration and border operations in the state “a little bit,” while maintaining enforcement as a core policy priority.