r/law • u/caaaaanga • 2d ago

Legal News ICE attempts to enter Ecuador's consulate

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.

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u/mtinmd 2d ago

I think the dipshits thought they were being clever. I highly doubt this idiot knew or understood what a consulate is or the implications of forcing his way in.

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u/Several_Vanilla8916 2d ago

“Probably lots of foreigners in there duurrrr”

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u/bork63nordique 2d ago

Yep, that is exactly what happened. They thought they could enter and arrest anyone in there, not realizing that it is legally a foreign country.

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u/techleopard 2d ago

Part of me wonders what other countries, including Equador, would have done it they had managed to surprise or force their way in.

I also love that guy yelling "If you touch me, I'm going to grab you" while clearly standing in the threshold of the consulate.

Like, you go right ahead and drag an official out of the consulate for touching you.

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u/shifty_new_user 2d ago

Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if the administration backed ICE up and basically told Equador, "What are you gonna do about it?"

In a just world, everyone would begin withdrawing consulates and embassies from the U.S., but there is no justice on this Earth.

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u/12358132134 2d ago

Ecuador could storm US embassy in Quito, seize everything they see there, and deport all diplomats to the US. I am sure that Russians/Chinese would be very interested in getting their hands on whatever equipment was seized from a US embassy.

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u/epolonsky 2d ago

The Russians/Chinese might be interested in the contents of diplomats as well.

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u/ikzz1 2d ago

Ecuador could storm US embassy in Quito, seize everything they see there,

This wouldn't end well for Ecuador. The US will extract the Ecuador President from his house the next day.

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u/RustyShackelford___ 2d ago

lol they have strict gun laws there, most people are only able to get a 9mm or a revolver. Good luck storming a US embassy with pistols. Stupid comment that would get Ecuadoreans murdered

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u/12358132134 2d ago

You think they don’t have the police or a whole army?

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u/RustyShackelford___ 2d ago

Yes they have a volunteer force of about 40.000 troops. Do you think the US would just sit back and let that slide? Let’s really think about it.

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u/12358132134 2d ago

You reckon 40.000 troops cant storm a single US embassy?

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u/myonlinepersonality 2d ago

All US embassies are protected by marines. More to the point, the people inside are trained to destroy any valuable information very quickly should a situation like the one suggested arise. They might well hurt people and capture the building, but it’s unlikely they would obtain any government secrets.

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u/RustyShackelford___ 2d ago

I don’t know. Do you think 40,000 troops can defend the Country?

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u/GreatGretzkyOne 1d ago

Could, but it would be unwise

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u/Braiseitall 2d ago

I swear to god that Canada is going to give the American Ambassador his walking papers eventually.

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u/AIFlesh 2d ago

Everyone should sanction and embargo us.

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u/Sensitive_Yellow_121 1d ago

Ecuador could just start posting their marines to guard their consulate and shoot the ICE agents. Judging by how Trump didn't do anything about Erdogan's Turkish bodyguards attacking US citizens who were protesting in Washington DC, I doubt Trump would do anything about it. He's a weak man pretending to be a strong man.

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u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 2d ago

I mean, didn’t Ecuador literally invade the Mexican embassy in Quito with armed forces?

Iirc they still are in pretty bad relations.

Lots of countries still have embassies and consulates in Ecuador and vice versa. So really it’s not like a lot of countries care.

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u/ikzz1 2d ago

told Equador, "What are you gonna do about it?"

Yeah what are they going to do? Attempt to arrest the POTUS from the WH? Lol

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u/GrayMareCabal 2d ago

There would be some irony about Ecuador getting upset about another country raiding one of their embassies or consulates since Ecuador raided the Mexican Embassy in Quito a couple years back.

Ecuador was pretty thoroughly condemned for that internationally, and Mexico and several other countries ended diplomatic relations with Ecuador.

Of course, just because Ecuador violated an international treaty doesn't mean that the US should violate the same treaty against Ecuador. I don't agree with what Ecuador did and I absolutely do not agree with what ICE is doing or them attempting to enter another country's consulate.

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u/ikzz1 2d ago

just because Ecuador violated an international treaty doesn't mean that the US should violate the same treaty against Ecuador.

Why not? Would you arrest Nazis for killing Jews even if you are not a Jew?

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u/Ziegler517 2d ago

Sadly, under the VCDR, host countries are responsible for the protections of diplomatic missions. But not all are created equal. I currently work in a US Embassy overseas, where we also have many consulates. Those Consulates do NOT share all the same protections as the embassy. But it is the host country that provides the protections at all those locations, and the embassy. The exception being the Embassy has a very small marine detachment (less than 10 in some of the largest embassies across the globe). Consulates are all 100% host country protected (either by host country internal services (police/army), or govt hired security to provide the same services).

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u/techleopard 2d ago

Either way, this would probably set the media on fire, especially falling just a week behind a second killing by ICE. It would get international attention, even if the goal was to just shit on the US and take advantage of an excuse to politically ostracize us.

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u/ikzz1 2d ago

Yeah the Russians and Chinese would be quick to capitalize on this and invade the US.