Vice President JD Vance responded to a video circulating online that showed demonstrators banging pots and playing instruments outside a Minneapolis hotel in subzero temperatures, apparently believing he was staying there.
Vance reacted on social media with a “cry laughing” emoji to a post claiming the protesters were students at the University of Minnesota. The post said the group was attempting to keep the vice president awake, though he had already returned to Washington several hours earlier.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 23, 2026
Vance had traveled to Minneapolis on Thursday to speak at a meeting with business leaders, law enforcement officials and immigration officers, according to local media. During the visit, he praised Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, saying they were doing an “incredible job,” and said media coverage had misrepresented their work.
Vance also addressed reports that ICE agents had arrested a 5-year-old in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Speaking to reporters, he said the child was not arrested and that agents had been attempting to detain the boy’s father, whom he described as being in the country illegally.
REPORTER: “A local school district here is alleging ICE agents detained a 5-year-old after preschool on Tuesday…Are you proud of how your administration is conducting this immigration crackdown…"
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 22, 2026
VP VANCE: “I actually saw this terrible story while I was coming to… pic.twitter.com/wpqDDRI6XE
“I came to find that the 5-year-old wasn’t arrested, but that his dad was an illegal alien, and that when they went to arrest him, the father ran,” Vance said.
He questioned how officers should have handled the situation.
“What are they supposed to do? Let a 5-year-old freeze to death? Not arrest an illegal alien?” Vance said. “If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated federal laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be given complete immunity.”
The vice president’s remarks came as the administration continues to defend its immigration enforcement strategy amid protests and scrutiny over recent ICE operations in the Midwest.
