--- description: Find out why Jacob Frey is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Jacob Frey: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc88d42c73991cf9/69dfb012d93274b39612c38b/T100-2026-Web-Jacob-Frey-2432.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Jacob Frey ## Video: See Everyone on the 2026 TIME100 List | Leaders [Watch (HLS stream): See Everyone on the 2026 TIME100 List | Leaders](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ximak0tp.m3u8) (2:27)  _Published 2026-04-15_ by [Julia Terruso](/author/julia-terruso/) ## Julia Terruso Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Matt Wilson—CBS/Getty Images [Jacob Frey](https://time.com/7368943/jacob-frey-minneapolis-mayor-ice-operation/ "undefined") became an adopted son of Minneapolis in 2009, drawn by the city’s trails and lakes after running its marathon. His three terms as mayor have been an endurance test of another sort. Frey led the city through the aftermath of the police killing of [George Floyd](https://time.com/7281847/time-unveils-special-report-five-years-later-america-looks-for-a-way-forward-after-george-floyd/ "undefined"), the [COVID](https://time.com/article/2026/03/31/new-covid-variant-cicada/ "undefined") pandemic, and the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. From a walnut conference table in city hall, he directed the unprecedented logistical response to having 4,000 federal agents on the ground. His careful demeanor gave way at times to raw frustration: “Get the f-ck out of Minneapolis,” he told ICE in January after community member [Renee Good](https://time.com/7345200/ice-shooting-border-patrol-minneapolis-portland-renee-good-luis-moncada-yorlenys-zambrano-contreras/ "undefined") was shot and killed. As the enforcement surge recedes, Frey is trying to knit together a city where businesses and daily life were hollowed out by fear. The nuts and bolts of governing are part of his pushback, he told TIME—filling potholes, keeping services running, “showing that we can have Democratically run cities that can work.” _Terruso is a TIME senior correspondent_ Jacob Frey Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/"},"headline":"Jacob Frey","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:51.222Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc88d42c73991cf9/69dfb012d93274b39612c38b/T100-2026-Web-Jacob-Frey-2432.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Terruso","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/julia-terruso/"}],"creator":"Julia Terruso","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc88d42c73991cf9/69dfb012d93274b39612c38b/T100-2026-Web-Jacob-Frey-2432.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/","name":"Jacob Frey"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the 2026 TIME100 List | Leaders","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ximak0tp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ximak0tp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/","duration":"PT2M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/jacob-frey/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```