Operation Metro Surge puts immigration at the forefront in a crowded Minnesota congressional race

DFL state Rep. Kaela Berg has been helping patrol Burnsville, sometimes using a whistle while she drives to warn residents of immigration agents nearby.

Former Lakeville Mayor Matt Little and state Sen. Matt Klein, also Democrats, have been leading protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Eric Pratt, a state senator from Prior Lake and one of two Republicans in the race, has been talking to business owners and residents about their experiences.

The crowded field of candidates running for Minnesota’s open Second District — one of the few remaining congressional swing seats in the country — is grappling with how to respond to Operation Metro Surge, which has sent thousands of federal agents to Minnesota for immigration enforcement.

“It’s the most important question we’re going to hear,” Little said of how candidates would handle the immigration crackdown in a Democratic debate last month.

Outgoing DFL Rep. Angie Craig took more conservative positions on immigration during her four terms representing the district, which includes a mix of southern Twin Cities suburbs, exurbs and rural areas. But the operation is pushing the Democrats in the race to the left on immigration. For the Republicans, it’s moving at least one candidate to the middle.

“We’ve got people who are genuinely afraid, and we’ve got business owners who don’t have people showing up to work,” said Pratt. “It’s having an impact on families and it’s having an impact on our local economy.”

All three Democrats in the race say they would not have voted for the Laken Riley Act, a bill Craig previously supported. Craig is being criticized for that vote as she runs for the U.S. Senate. The bill allows law enforcement to detain and possibly deport illegal immigrants arrested for nonviolent crimes.

Craig also supported a House resolution condemning antisemitism and expressing gratitude for ICE and other law enforcement. Little and Klein said they would not have supported the resolution, and Berg would not say.

Reining in ICE dominated conversations at DFL precinct caucuses earlier this month. Strong opposition to the Trump administration’s tactics could mean Democratic candidates in the race have more freedom to push back on questions about immigration, former DFL campaign director Todd Rapp said.

“I believe that the Democratic Party is speaking out more strongly about this,” Rapp said. ”I’m sure that a number of candidates within the party have been thinking very carefully about their position on this issue and understanding that the people want to hear much stronger messages against the administration."

While they wouldn’t go as far as backing a growing push among progressives to abolish ICE, the three Democrats in the race say the agency needs to be reformed.

Little thinks ICE should be replaced.

“I agree with getting rid of ICE, as long as we replace it with with an organization that can function to get criminals out of this country and builds the trust,” he said.

Klein said the agency should be focused on securing the southern border. “When ... people use the word ‘abolish,’ what is heard is open borders and no sort of immigration enforcement whatsoever. And I don’t believe in that. And I don’t think most Minnesotans believe in that,” he said.

David Sturrock, a political science professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and a former official in the Minnesota Republican Party, thinks the candidates may be “cultivating the support of constituencies that don’t exactly align” in their responses.

“They’re saying what they know their base wants to hear” in order to win the party’s backing, Sturrock said.

Nearly all Republicans in Congress voted for the Laken Riley Act and the resolution supporting ICE. Pratt said he does not know how he would have voted on either, though he thinks “generally they were moves in the right direction.”

“I believe many of these situations could have been avoided had we had better cooperation between federal and local authorities,” Pratt said.