Fear of immigration crackdown could keep some Democrats from Tuesday’s precinct caucuses

As he prepares for Tuesday night’s precinct caucuses, Democrat Jason Chavez is issuing an unusual warning to some of his fellow DFLers: stay home.

“I do not recommend folks who are vulnerable to deportation to show up. In fact, I will tell them ‘it is not safe for you to go,’” said Chavez, a Minneapolis City Council member who represents Ward 9, one of the most diverse areas in the city.

Some candidates and activists are worried that Democrats’ political gatherings across the state on Feb. 3 could become targets for immigration agents amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing enforcement surge in the state. For weeks, they’ve warned party leaders that those most affected by Trump’s crackdown — immigrants and people of color — may not attend at all.

Chavez and others, mostly affiliated with the progressive wing of the party, said they had been pushing the DFL Party to make the caucuses virtual. They’re worried the caucuses will lack diversity at a time when the party is trying to bring in more people. In 2022, the party opened caucuses up to undocumented immigrants and people convicted of felonies who are on probation.

Caucuses are typically attended “overwhelmingly” by “older, whiter, more affluent people,” said Rudy FunkMeyer, a member of the Minnesota Young DFL caucus. He’s worried the move to keep precinct caucuses in-person will exacerbate that dynamic.

“Even if no ICE agents were to show up to any precinct caucus locations, the fact that there is still that fear means that we are going to see not only less turnout in general, but also a more unrepresentative kind of body showing up to caucus,” FunkMeyer said.

DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom said state law requires the party to hold in-person caucuses. The party was able to hold caucuses virtually during the pandemic because a state of emergency had been called by Gov. Tim Walz, which gave the party more flexibility to hold them online, he said.

“ICE will not be allowed inside the buildings,” Carlbom said. “We’ll tell them that, and we will be in touch with local authorities, police departments, should ICE show up at one of these precinct caucus locations.”

In addition to debating the party’s platform, caucus attendees can vote in a nonbinding straw poll for governor and sign up to be delegates at the party’s endorsing convention in the spring. Carlbom said DFLers who do not attend can submit a non-attendee form, which the party has translated into Spanish, Somali and Hmong, to indicate if they want to be delegates.

Carlbom said many DFLers are eager to show up to caucuses as a show of force against the Trump administration. Activists are expected to debate adding language opposing ICE’s crackdown in the state to the party’s platform.

“It’s similar to showing up in the streets to peacefully protest,” Carlbom said of caucus meetings. “It’s our way of ensuring that our Democratic processes continue despite the federal occupation with ICE agents in Minnesota.”

Carlbom and other DFLers who support the decision for in-person caucuses argue that people without access to Wi-Fi would also be affected if the party held caucuses virtually.

But Brian Swancutt, the head of Stonewall DFL, said he knows many long-time precinct caucus conveners who are U.S. citizens but are “staying home for fear of being detained by ICE and released from Whipple in the middle of the night.”

Swancutt said some activists are also worried about being sent out of state.