{"id":1426,"date":"2026-08-12T05:08:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:08:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:08:37","slug":"federal-immigration-policy-takes-center-stage-in-minnesotas-primary-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1426","title":{"rendered":"Federal Immigration Policy Takes Center Stage in Minnesota\u2019s Primary Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Read more DOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In Minnesota, glossy political mailers, sensationalized television ads, and campaign stunts meant to animate voters in this year\u2019s primary elections all focus on one common theme: immigration.<\/p>\n

The August 11 elections come as Minnesotans are learning more about the devastating impacts of \u201cOperation Metro Surge,\u201d which brought thousands of federal law enforcement agents to the state on a mission to crack down on immigrants and refugees regardless of their citizenship status. In response, Minnesotans used their voices and bodies to resist, ultimately forcing the government to retreat after intense clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters, especially in the wake of the killings of Ren\u00e9e Good and Alex Pretti. <\/p>\n

Today, Democratic and Republican candidates across the state are making immigration a central focus of their campaigns. This year\u2019s elections are especially significant as candidates compete in high-profile races for the Minnesota governor, the U.S. Senate, and the state legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere used to be an adage that all politics is local and that elections were decided primarily by local issues,\u201d Hamline University politics professor David Schultz told Truthout<\/em>. \u201cIncreasingly, however, politics has become nationalized. Although immigration is primarily a federal issue under the Constitution and federal law, it has become an important issue in state campaigns and elections in Minnesota, particularly because of the controversy surrounding Metro Surge.\u201d<\/p>\n

For candidates from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), accountability for the violence of Donald Trump\u2019s Operation Metro Surge has been a top campaign priority.<\/p>\n

Cedrick Frazier is a state representative who is running for Hennepin County attorney, the top prosecutor in Minnesota\u2019s most populous county. Frazier\u2019s campaign was already underway when Metro Surge unfolded in late December. However, after Good was killed and immigration agents grew more aggressive, Frazier says he noticed a shift in voters\u2019 priorities and concerns. On the streets, he told Truthout<\/em>, they were asking questions that most people hadn\u2019t even considered just a month earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not a day that goes by in the campaign that we don\u2019t hear something about the harm the federal agents did, how they were operating when they were here, and questions as to when we\u2019re going to have some transparency and accountability for what was done to our neighbors here in our state,\u201d Frazier said. <\/p>\n

Among the other typical platform items for a prosecutor candidate in a large county like Hennepin, Frazier\u2019s campaign proclaims its top priority is standing up to Trump and prosecuting federal agents who have broken Minnesota law. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I explain to folks is that those cases are likely to get to the prosecutorial process in the next administration,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, leaders are collecting the evidence and determining what charges can be brought. It will continue under the next administration because these cases can take some time to wind through the system.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I am preparing for as a candidate, should I win, is to move forward on those cases. I am committed to that,\u201d Frazier added. \u201cThe current county attorney, along with [Minnesota Attorney General Keith] Ellison, has already started collecting evidence. They have already started collecting evidence and preparing to look at these cases and bring charges. I am committed to continuing that process when I am in that role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frazier, the DFL-endorsed candidate, is facing off against four other Democrats in the primary: former U.S. Attorney Anders Folk, former Hennepin County prosecutor Diane Krenz, Ramsey County Assistant Attorney Hao Nguyen, and attorney Matt Pelikan. Of these latter four candidates, only Folk has explicitly stated on his campaign website that he plans to \u201cpursue accountability for all violations of law by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like Frazier, Abdi Daisane, a candidate for state representative, observed how Metro Surge has shaped local elections across Minnesota. A Somali American whose community was at the center of the immigration crackdown, Daisane told Truthout<\/em> that many of the voters he\u2019s met \u2014 both immigrants and non-immigrants \u2014 consider immigration an important election issue. \u201cThey saw how this affects their lives,\u201d he said. \u201cThey feel that the state could have done more to protect their freedoms, their rights.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Federal Court Dismisses Youth Climate Lawsuit Challenging Trump Executive Orders<\/a><\/p>\n

As a result, Daisane has made immigration central to his campaign. \u201cAs an elected official, I want to make sure that we\u2019re doing better in protecting the people of Minnesota,\u201d he said. In one of the most contested congressional primary races, Democratic Senate candidates Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig have also made immigration a key part of their campaigns. During a recent debate on Minnesota Public Radio<\/em>, the two explained their positions on immigration enforcement. <\/p>\n

\u201cICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] itself has to be ripped apart,\u201d said Flanagan, who was endorsed by national progressive leaders like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. \u201cWe are seeing this essentially lawless entity that has killed 11 people with impunity. It is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig, who once voted for \u2014 and later apologized for doing so \u2014 Trump\u2019s Laken Riley Act, which expanded ICE\u2019s authority to detain noncitizens, also called for dismantling what the campaign labels the current \u201cTrump ICE.\u201d She has also called new requirements on the agency, including a ban on face masks and mandatory body cameras. That policy change has been put forth by some establishment members of the party, but others to the left say those changes do not amount to meaningful accountability and could even increase surveillance of protesters.<\/p>\n

Some voters, like Jonathan Stegall, an organizer and abolitionist in Minneapolis, are skeptical of candidates\u2019 political posturing over ICE and immigration. \u201cThere is not actually a whole lot you can do to hold a massive government agency accountable other than take away their money, take away their guns, take away their ability to collaborate with sheriffs, with jails, with cops,\u201d Stegall told Truthout<\/em>. \u201cCertainly, Angie Craig is not doing any of those things. I don\u2019t think Peggy Flanagan is, for that matter.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, GOP candidates have intensified their anti-immigration rhetoric \u2014 often criminalizing immigrants and refugees and portraying them as a burden on social services. \u201cIn the Republican races,\u201d Schultz said, \u201cthe debate has centered on which candidate is tougher on illegal immigration and more supportive of ICE and stricter enforcement policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of these candidates are particularly focused on ongoing fraud investigations involving many defendants of Somali descent. The investigations first emerged in 2022 when dozens of individuals were charged with stealing millions of dollars intended to feed poor children during the pandemic. Since then, additional fraud cases tied to various social service programs, including government-funded day care and autism services, have come to light. Although the Somalis involved in these cases represent a small fraction of Minnesota\u2019s Somali community, GOP candidates have often used these cases to attack the entire community. <\/p>\n

State Rep. Lisa Demuth, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, has used racist and xenophobic language to attack Somalis and other immigrants in TV ads. \u201cMinnesota became a magnet for fraud, fake Somali day cares stealing our money, and handouts for illegal immigrants,\u201d she says in one ad. \u201cWhen Tim Walz cowered, I ended taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and said no to tax hikes because we shouldn\u2019t pay for their fraud.\u201d <\/p>\n

Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, a Republican seeking a U.S. Senate seat, says in another ad that, as a senator, she would \u201cpass tougher prison sentences, deport noncitizen fraudsters, and strip federal funding from states that won\u2019t do audits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tafoya\u2019s opponent, Adam Schwarze, also targets immigrants in an ad narrated in second person. \u201cAdam Schwarze is running to protect American family values,\u201d it states. \u201cAs a Marine and Navy SEAL, he dedicated his career to protecting America. Now Adam Schwarze is fighting a new enemy at home. He\u2019s fighting fraud and corruption, securing our border, deporting criminal illegal aliens, and making life more affordable.\u201d <\/p>\n

If immigration issues were once seen as a mere federal issue in Minnesota before the brutal immigration crackdown this winter, they\u2019re now dominating state and local primary politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmigration illustrates the broader nationalization of state and local politics,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cIt has become such a high-profile and emotionally charged issue that it serves as an effective way for both Democrats and Republicans to energize their respective political bases.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Think Tank Battling Progressive Policies Gets Funding From Insurance Industry<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As voters head to the polls, candidates on both sides are making immigration a defining issue in races across the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal Immigration Policy Takes Center Stage in Minnesota\u2019s Primary Elections - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal Immigration Policy Takes Center Stage in Minnesota\u2019s Primary Elections - 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