Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said his city is "experiencing an invasion" and warned that other cities could be next "if we do not speak up" during remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

"We are on the front lines of a very important battle, and it's important that we aren't silenced, that we aren't put down," Frey said. "This is not a time to bend our heads in despair or out of fear that we may be next, because if we do not speak up, if we do not step out, it will be your city that is next."

Frey said Minneapolis has worked with federal partners to bring crime down and that Minneapolis is a safe city. But, he said, it is "less safe when chaos reigns supreme."

"It is less safe when families do not feel comfortable going to school or buying food at the grocery store because they're worried that their very family might get ripped apart," he said. "It is less safe when we have roving bands of agents marching down the street just looking for somebody who might be concerned."

Frey also addressed the federal investigation into him and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, saying the Department of Justice is "being used as a weapon."

"They're investigating me and several other local elected officials, not because we've done something wrong, but because we have exhibited one of the core responsibilities that both I and you have as mayors, and that is the core and foundational responsibility to speak on behalf of your constituents," he said.

In closing, he called on his fellow mayors to "stand together."

"We got to hold rock solid. We cannot back down," he said. "Our cities, our mayors are what will hold this democracy together."

ICE said Thursday it is still looking for a man they were trying to arrest who went into the Ecuadorian Consulate in Minneapolis earlier this week.

Officers were trying to arrest a national from Ecuador, according to ICE, identifying him as Jorge Miguel Bravo Uriles.

ICE said Bravo Uriles has previous arrests for sexual assault and assault and has been convicted of driving while intoxicated. ABC News has not independently verified the man's criminal record.

ICE alleged that while attempting to arrest him, Bravo Uriles fled into a nearby building and that the ICE officers were unaware it housed the consulate because it's "not clearly marked."

Video from inside the consultant showed what appeared to be federal agents at the entrance.

"At no time did the ICE officers enter the Consulate," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. "The Consulate employees protected this public safety threat illegal alien. He is still at large."

-ABC News' Armando Garcia

President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet did not mention Minnesota or ICE during Thursday's cabinet meeting.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also did not speak during the meeting.

Trump did not take any questions from reporters at the end.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

"Under the president's leadership, we have the most secure border in the history of our nation," said border czar Tom Homan on Thursday morning.

When asked about how many Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents are currently operating in Minnesota, Homan did not give a figure but said that his main focus now is "draw down."

Homan claimed that 12,000 people per day were coming across the border illegally under former President Joe Biden, and said that the deployment of a large number of ICE agents was necessary to secure the border and manage the "humanitarian crisis."

Homan also called on state officials to "stand shoulder to shoulder with us" and to condemn "all unlawful actions against law enforcement," reiterating that the withdrawal of law enforcement "dependent on cooperation."