Vice President JD Vance said Thursday the Trump administration will discipline Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers "when justified" for mistakes made during deportation operations, striking a more measured tone after he and other senior officials recently suggested agents have "absolute immunity" while enforcing federal law.
Vance made the comments in an interview with the Washington Examiner aboard Air Force Two as he flew from Toledo, Ohio, to Minneapolis, where the administration has faced intensifying scrutiny over immigration enforcement and the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer earlier this month.
"Well, first of all, you're never going to eliminate, entirely, mistakes," Vance said. "You're talking about human beings. It's going to happen at the local level. It's going to happen at the federal level, you know?"
He argued that accountability and support for law enforcement can coexist.
"That's not to say that we're — you can acknowledge that mistakes sometimes happen while also acknowledging that 99% of our ICE officers are doing the right thing. They're doing a very tough job in Minneapolis. They're doing a tough job in incredibly difficult circumstances. I would say the same of police officers," Vance said.
When asked about repercussions for wrongdoing, including excessive force or mistaken arrests of U.S. citizens, Vance said complaints are investigated and discipline can follow.
"Certainly, when we have any accusation of wrongdoing, we investigate, we look into it," he said. "If we think that there are disciplinary actions justified, then, of course, we're going to take those disciplinary actions."
Vance also said the administration intends to reduce errors while backing officers he says are acting properly.
"You can do both of those things at the same time," he said. "I also think that what we're trying to do is actually make it easier for these guys to do their job."
Earlier on Thursday, Vance commented on ICE activities in Minneapolis during a speech in Ohio, saying that "mistakes have been made" by immigration officials.
"My thought on that is, well, of course there have been mistakes made, because you're always going to have mistakes made in law enforcement," Vance said, adding, "It's not what ICE is doing in Minneapolis, it's what Minneapolis authorities are doing to prevent ICE from doing their jobs. That's exactly what's happening."
His comments contrasted with remarks he made earlier this month in a rare appearance in the White House briefing room after Good, 37, was shot and killed during an ICE operation in Minneapolis.
In that briefing, Vance said videos he had seen left little doubt, telling reporters, "What you see is what you get in this case."
Vance blamed Good and political opponents for the tensions surrounding the case.
"I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognizing that it's a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement — a lunatic fringe — against our law enforcement officers," Vance said at a White House press briefing the day after the shooting.
President Donald Trump has also acknowledged that enforcement at scale can produce errors.
"They're going to make mistakes," Trump said Tuesday during a press conference. "Sometimes, ICE is going to be too rough for somebody. They're going to make a mistake. Sometimes it can happen."
Vance’s shift comes as the administration continues to press an aggressive deportation agenda while confronting rising political and legal pressure tied to raids, detentions, and the scope of ICE authority.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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