Immigration has historically been a politically toxic issue for many Minnesota Democrats. But after the surge of federal agents, they’re embracing the issue and betting it will animate voters in November.
At the Minnesota Capitol, DFL legislators introduced dozens of bills seeking to restrict the power of federal immigration agents and support Minnesotans who were financially impacted by the federal agent surge. They say if Republicans block the measures, they’ll make them pay for it at the polls.
For DFL candidates vying for seats in Washington, immigration has become a way for Democrats to set themselves apart from each other before candidate lineups are set by the August primary.
Immigration moved to the political forefront earlier this year after President Donald Trump's administration dispatched wave after wave of federal agents to Minnesota. Thousands of people were detained and two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal agents. Whether immigration stays central to the campaign discussion is hard to assess, with war in the Middle East, domestic economic concerns and other attention-getting issues shifting on a near-daily basis.
DFL legislators rally around anti-ICE bills
DFL state legislators drew up 30-some bills in response to the immigration agent activity this winter.
Some would ban immigration agents from accessing sensitive spaces like schools, hospitals, homes or libraries without a judicial warrant. Other bills restrict the use of tinted windows, face masks, automated license plate readers and tear gas. DFLers are also trying to get money to cities, counties, tribes and small businesses to help them recover economically from the surge.
Another bill would add civil penalties to a Minnesota law that criminalizes not providing medical aid after someone is shot. That bill is meant to provide the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti with the opportunity to sue federal agents for their actions, or lack thereof, after agents shot and killed the civilian observers.
Republicans have voted against the bills. They accuse Democrats of using immigration to distract from concerns about fraud.
“They're more interested in talking about things we don't have control over,” House GOP Leader Harry Niska said this month, referencing the immigration bills.
“They're more interested in talking about things that are happening in Washington D.C. than about what we should do and can do here in Minnesota,” Niska, of Ramsey, said.
House DFL Caucus Leader Rep. Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, predicted Republicans will suffer at the polls for not taking action.
“Accountability’s coming. Because we have an election in not too many months and this will absolutely be an issue in the fall election,” Stephenson said.
Stephenson said if his party can’t deliver on immigration this session, “we will win a majority and we will pass the bills in 2027 if necessary.”
All 201 Minnesota House and Senate seats are up for election this year.
An outsized role in key races
All of Minnesota’s U.S. House seats and one of the two Senate seats are also up for election in 2026, with competitive DFL primaries in some races. Democratic candidates are largely campaigning on issues like affordability and health care. But in certain primary races, immigration has become a way for candidates to distinguish themselves.
Immigration is playing a significant role in the DFL nomination contest between U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to fill U.S. Sen. Tina Smith’s seat.
Immigration emerged as a defining issue after the ICE surge — partly because Flanagan has highlighted differences between them.
In January 2025, Craig voted for the Laken Riley Act, which Trump signed. The law is named after a woman who was killed by a Venezuelan man who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and was repeatedly arrested for various offenses and later released. The law requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants arrested or charged with “burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person.”
Between January 2025 and January 2026, “ICE arrested more than 21,400 illegal aliens with Laken Riley Act crimes,” according to a DHS statement.
“The only Democrat in Minnesota who voted for it was my opponent,” Flanagan said.
Additionally, Flanagan points out that Craig was also the only Minnesota Democrat to back a House resolution that condemned an attack on people marching last June in Boulder, Colorado in solidarity with hostages of Hamas. The last line expresses gratitude to ICE “for protecting the homeland.”
In early January, Craig pushed back against Flanagan’s focus on immigration.
“If I were a lieutenant governor of a state right now, particularly this one, my No. 1 priority would be helping the governor address the fraud issues that we have in the state,” Craig told MPR News.
As the federal immigration agent presence in Minnesota grew, Craig defended her prior votes and noted the detention law still required due process. But in early March, she wrote a commentary in the Star Tribune saying she regrets voting for the Laken Riley Act. Craig wrote that after the killings of Good and Pretti, it became clear “that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision.”
Craig has been in Minnesota recently talking about immigration. On April 9, Craig visited the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building to check on any detainees there. She reported there was one Homeland Security Investigations detainee being held at the time of her visit.
Just before her latest tour of the Whipple Building, Craig told reporters that she thinks “ICE’s tactics in Minnesota” will be a top issue for voters in November. Craig said her constituents want “a safe and secure border,” but “they absolutely believe that the behavior of ICE in Minnesota was beyond the pale.”
“We can't just say ‘Operation Metro Surge’ is over,” Craig said. “This will never be over, as far as I'm concerned, until we put the appropriate guardrails on the tactics that ICE is using — not just in Minnesota but across the country.”
The next week Craig was in Burnsville drawing attention to the case of a resident of her district, a 23-year-old Guatemalan woman named Andrea Pedro-Francisco. She was arrested in February and sent to a detention center in El Paso, Texas. Pedro-Francisco missed a scheduled surgery to remove an ovarian cyst while in detention, and her lawyer said that if Pedro-Francisco doesn’t receive medical care soon she could die.
While Craig has called for overhauling ICE, Flanagan calls for “ripping ICE apart” and “starting over” — drawing another distinction between the two.
The top DFL candidates running to replace Craig in the 2nd Congressional District all say the federal government should be held accountable for its actions in Minnesota this winter. But some candidates go further than others.
Those top candidates are state Rep. Kaela Berg, state Sen. Matt Klein and former state Sen. Matt Little. Klein and Berg sponsor bills at the state Capitol to restrict the power of immigration agents. Little and Berg have publicly called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I think the sexism, racism and authoritarianism inherent in that agency cannot be rooted out, cannot be reformed,” Little said in early April.
“I think their duties need to be taken over by another federal agency. Their core duties, which are getting violent criminals out of a country and stopping drugs from coming into this country,” Little said.
The endorsement convention in that district is May 9, with a primary possible. Democrats will hold the state DFL convention in Rochester starting on May 29, but the race between Craig and Flanagan could also stretch into an August primary.