Vice President JD Vance on Thursday during a visit to Minneapolis blamed a "failure of cooperation" by local and state authorities for rising tensions and chaotic moments during the ongoing federal immigration crackdown in the state. 

"I guarantee we're going to do the best to be professional, to respect people's rights, to not do anything that we don't have to do in order to enforce immigration laws," Vance said. "But it would make our lives a lot easier, it would make our officers a lot safer, and it would make Minneapolis much less chaotic if we had a little bit of cooperation from the state and local officials with that."

His visit comes amid "Operation Metro Surge," which began late last month. An influx of 3,000 federal agents from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been in the state over the last few weeks in what authorities have called the largest immigration operation ever.

Vance said Thursday that many of those officers are not even doing targeted immigration enforcement, but instead are stepping in to protect ICE officers from clashes with protestors. He claimed that local authorities, including police officers, are being told to "stand down" when these agents phone 911 for help.

"They're doing force protection, so that if a rioter tries to ruin the life or assault an ICE officer, they're actually protected," he said. "Now, why doesn't it make more sense for the local cops to get involved in that situation? Why not just have the mayor or the local officials tell the police officers, 'You know what? If an ICE officer is being assaulted by a far-left agitator, you are invited. You should actually help him.'"

The Minneapolis Police Department told WCCO it "receives and processes numerous 911 reports of ICE activity throughout the city each day."

"The presence of protestors alone is not sufficient reason for MPD to respond where ICE activity is occurring," a spokesperson for the department said.

A spokesperson for St. Paul Police said they respond to 911 calls for help whether it's a resident or a federal agent, but noted the city's separation ordinance does not allow officers to enforce immigration law themselves.  

Tensions are high between the agents and residents as the crackdown continues. Protests grew after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7. 

An altercation after an ICE officer shot a Venezuelan migrant in the leg last week turned violent. Multiple U.S. citizens have said they have been detained and released without charges, including a 23-year-old woman who was held for two days.  

Vance acknowledged that there have been "mistakes" during the operation, but did not go into specifics.

"Whenever you have a law enforcement operation, even if 99.99% of the guys do everything perfectly, you're going to have people that make mistakes," Vance said

Before making remarks to reporters and taking questions, the vice president said he met with local business leaders, ICE agents and local law enforcement to "tone down the temperature" and "reduce the chaos."

Walz in a post on social media said he welcomed that effort but that "actions speak louder than words."

"Take the show of force off the streets and partner with the state on targeted enforcement of violent offenders instead of random, aggressive confrontation," he said. 

Responding to a reporter's question, Vance said he did not think the Insurrection Act — which President Trump last week threatened to invoke to quell protests — is necessary at this time.

"The president could change his mind. Of course, things could get worse, but right now, we think that federal law enforcement officers can do the job of federal law enforcement," he said.

Vance addresses accusations of racial profiling, 5-year-old detained by ICE

Earlier this week, local police chiefs during a news conference shared their concerns about some tactics used by immigration agents and called for more oversight after receiving complaints from residents about "civil rights violations in our streets."

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said some officers of color in his department had been targeted by ICE while off duty. He shared one story of one female officer who had been stopped while driving and that agents "boxed her in" with guns drawn and "demanded her paperwork" despite being a U.S. citizen.  

Only when she said she was a police officer did they back down without an apology, Bruley said. 

Vance said accusations of racial profiling are concerning, but said there needs to be more fact-finding if the incident actually occurred. He said he wouldn't "prejudge" people based on a social media story.

"Is it a concern? Absolutely. The first thing we have to figure out is whether it happened or not, and then if it happened, whether there is a good explanation or a bad explanation," the vice president explained. "Of course, if somebody violated the law, if somebody racially profiled, if somebody violated the rights of one of our fellow citizens — that is something we will take very seriously. What I also would say is that many of the most viral stories of the past couple of weeks have turned out to be, at best, partially true."

The Columbia Heights School District on Wednesday said a 5-year-old student detained alongside his father was used as "bait" to lure other family members out of the home, sparking outrage. 

DHS said the child was "abandoned" by his father, whom they described as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. Both are now detained in Texas. An attorney for the family said they have an active case seeking asylum.

Vance addressed the incident, which is gaining widespread attention, and said he saw the headlines on the way to Minneapolis. His initial reaction was that it was "terrible," and he questioned, "How did we arrest a five-year-old?" But then claimed the story lacked context.

"When they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran. So the story is that ice detained a five-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?" he said.