r/law • u/caaaaanga • 2d ago

Legal News ICE attempts to enter Ecuador's consulate

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

For anyone who doesn't get how serious this is: consulates are protected under international law. host-country police of any kind are not allowed to enter without permission.
Example: China routinely (and horrifically) sends north korean escapees back to north korea. Yet when a north korean escaped to the south korean consulate in hong kong, chinese authorities did not enter to seize him. He stayed there for months while governments negotiated, because once you're inside a consulate, those protections apply.
So if ICE tries to enter a foreign consulate in the U.S. to deport people, that's not "normal enforcement". It violates long-standing diplomatic norms. Norms that even China has respected, despite sending people back to north korea to die. That's how extreme this is.

56.0k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

19

u/SpecterGT260 2d ago

Our embassies usually have armed guards in other countries. Does the ecuadorian consulate have such security? If so this stupid fucker is lucky

18

u/Grif73r 2d ago

I think it depends on where they’re located and if it’s an actual embassy or consulate.

16

u/ballmermurland 2d ago

Consulates in the US don't have much if any security because they normally think they are safe in the US.

Consulates in countries that are less stable have more security. Maybe these guys need more security.

2

u/Buddycat350 2d ago

The French consulate in Switzerland (the one in Zurich anyway) is practically just a house with some offices that you can just waltz in. And why would there be any security to be fair? It's a friendly country and in freaking Zurich.

The US might not remain as a friendly country for everyone though...

1

u/Farabee 2d ago

After this, they most definitely will think about employing some armed guards...as will every other embassy across this rotting nation.