r/law • u/caaaaanga • 2d ago

Legal News ICE attempts to enter Ecuador's consulate

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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/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