Minneapolis, US: A video that has gone viral online shows a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempting to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in what the government of Ecuador says was an unlawful effort to access the diplomatic premises.

In a statement from the Republic of Ecuador, officials said, “This morning, the Consul of Ecuador in Minneapolis reported that at approximately 11:00 a.m., an agent from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) attempted to enter the Consulate’s facilities.”

One ICE officer can be heard responding by threatening to "grab" the staffer if he touched the agent before agreeing to leave.

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The video circulating on social platforms shows a consular official physically blocking the ICE agent at the doorway of the consulate, which, under international law, is protected from such entries. This incident unfolded amid a highly charged climate of immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities.

“Immediately, Consulate officials prevented the ICE officer from entering the consular premises, thereby ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were present at the consulate at that time and activating the emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.”

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Ecuador’s foreign ministry said it took immediate diplomatic action following the encounter: “As a result, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic immediately submitted a formal note of protest to the Embassy of the United States in Ecuador, requesting that acts of this nature not be repeated at any of Ecuador’s consular offices in the United States.”

Minneapolis, in the northern state of Minnesota, has emerged as the tense ground zero of the national clash over President Donald Trump's harsh deportation drive after ICE agents shot and killed two protesters this month, one of them on Saturday as he lay pinned to the ground by masked officers.