Immigration Fight Shadows Minnesota Democratic Senate Primary

MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump's deportation campaign in Minneapolis has become the defining backdrop of Minnesota's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, a contest between establishment-backed Rep. Angie Craig and the more progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

For months, immigration agents staged out of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building next to the Minneapolis airport while protesters with whistles and cellphone cameras assembled to oppose them. Two people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed in the city's streets before Trump pulled back under pressure.

The fences and barriers around the Whipple building are now down. But volunteers in bright orange vests still keep vigil across the street for 12 or more hours a day, ready to assist people released from immigration detention or leaving hearings at the immigration court inside. A few miles away, visitors bring fresh flowers and handwritten notes to memorials at the spots where Good and Pretti were killed.

Craig voted in early 2025 for the Laken Riley Act, the first bill passed by Congress after Trump's second term began, which requires federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes. Nearly 60 other Democrats in the House and Senate also backed it. Weeks after the two killings, Craig published a mea culpa in a Minnesota Star Tribune column, writing that the "outright occupation by aggressive, unaccountable federal forces" made clear "that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision. And I regret my vote." She maintains the operation was not enabled by her vote.

Flanagan has highlighted those votes, casting Craig as unwilling to fight the administration. "I think that's when she lost my vote permanently," said Bryce Bohne, 40, a Minneapolis teacher supporting Flanagan.

Craig, who flipped a Republican-held House seat in 2018 and survived repeated tough races, says her record positions her to hold the seat. "I consider myself a progressive," she told reporters Saturday, noting Republicans run ads saying she votes with Democrats 96% or 97% of the time. "Of course, in the primary, people want to point out the few votes I've taken against Democrats."

Gov. Tim Walz has declined to weigh in.