ALBAWABA- Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry has filed a formal diplomatic complaint with the United States after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to enter Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis without permission on Tuesday, Ecuador said.
Consulate staff blocked the agent from entering the building and activated emergency protocols to ensure the safety of Ecuadorian citizens inside, the ministry said, invoking protections under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations that bar unauthorized access to diplomatic facilities.
The incident was captured on video shared on social media, showing consular officials firmly denying entry as the ICE agent insisted.
Ecuador’s foreign minister promptly sent a note of protest to the U.S. Embassy in Quito, demanding guarantees that such actions will not happen again at Ecuador’s diplomatic posts in the United States.
The attempted entry took place amid a controversial U.S. immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that has drawn national attention and criticism.
Roughly 3,000 ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents have been deployed to Minneapolis as part of an intensified deportation campaign ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration.
That campaign has already sparked protests following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents and the temporary detainment of Ecuadorian nationals, including a 5-year-old child whose deportation was later halted by a judge.
Ecuador’s protest highlights growing tensions between Washington and Quito over the conduct of U.S. immigration authorities.
Attempting to enter a consular compound, considered inviolable under international law, risks undermining diplomatic norms and could further strain bilateral relations at a politically charged time for immigration policy.
