Because the Democrats’ crusade to defund the police worked out so well for them, they are ramping up calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement ahead of the midterms. Minnesota’s far-left Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, currently a candidate in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, has made this a central issue in her campaign.
In a Saturday appearance on the MS NOW program “The Weekend,” Flanagan hammered home the issue: “Now we need folks who are willing to rip ICE apart,” she said. “To start over and make sure we have immigration policy that is grounded in actual safety.”
“Of course, securing our borders,” she insisted, “but making sure that dignity is part of this. And that we are not building warehouses to keep thousands of people — you know — including children and families.”
She wants people to know that Minnesotans “are not powerless” against ICE.
“Everybody who can in these positions … should be taking advantage and prosecuting as many of these folks [ICE agents] as possible.”
“We deserve justice and not a lawless group of thugs under Donald Trump doing whatever they want and hurting people across this country.”
Ironically, if you strip out the “under Donald Trump” qualifier from her last statement, it reads more like a description of the illegal aliens who flooded the U.S. during the Biden years.
Naturally, Flanagan included every buzzword she could think of in her rant: “rip ICE apart,” “safety,” “dignity,” “justice,” “children and families,” and “powerless.”
“Ripping ICE apart” has apparently become a theme for the radical lieutenant governor. Shortly after the January deaths of anti-ICE agitators Renee Good and Alexander Pretti — each caused by their active and unlawful interference with ICE operations in Minneapolis, Flanagan wrote, “We need ICE out of Minnesota. They need to repair and restore what they have broken. Then we need to rip ICE apart.”
It may have been a winning message in the immediate aftermath of their deaths, but now that the dust has settled, it may not play out so well with the more rational Minnesotans who live outside of the state’s urban areas. We can only hope.
In December, when fraud within Minnesota’s Somali community shocked the nation and dominated the headlines, Flanagan, who is Catholic, donned a hijab and proclaimed solidarity with the Somalis in what amounted to a humiliating display of political pandering.
She told the audience that “the Somali community is part of the fabric of the state of Minnesota.”
Unfortunately for Flanagan, her hijab moment landed poorly, and her transparent exercise in virtue signaling may prove more damaging than beneficial — at least among some independent voters that she needs to win. The video certainly drew attention. But judging from the fierce backlash it received on social media, it was not the kind she’d hoped to generate.
Still, Flanagan is currently the frontrunner in the Democratic Senate primary for the open seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith (D), who is retiring. Although it’s still early, she leads her Republican opponent, podcaster Michele Tafoya, by 6 points in the latest general election polls, 47% to 41%. Tafoya is a frequent guest on Fox News and a retired sports broadcaster for ABC, NBC, CBS, and ESPN. While the odds favor a Flanagan victory in this blue state, perhaps some sanity will prevail among voters when they head to the polls in November.
Flanagan’s extreme rhetoric isn’t an outlier — it’s the new normal among Minnesota Democrats who have gone “knives out” targeting ICE agents. I recently reported that uber radical Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced her office had issued a nationwide arrest warrant for an ICE agent accused of pointing a gun at two motorists on a Minneapolis highway during Operation Metro Surge. Gregory Morgan Jr. of Temple Hills, Maryland, faces two counts of second-degree assault in the Feb. 5 incident.
Minnesotans who want to “rip apart ICE” need to imagine an America that doesn’t enforce its immigration laws. A lawless country that protects murderers, rapists, and other degenerates, and places illegal aliens above law-abiding citizens.
Voters must look past the slogans and ask what replaces it. Peeling back the rhetoric, the proposal amounts to dismantling a federal agency tasked with enforcing laws Congress enacted, with no clear, workable alternative in its place. That’s not reform — it’s abdication.
Minnesotans have every right to expect both compassion and order, both dignity and the rule of law. The question in November is whether voters will embrace sweeping, undefined promises to “rip apart” institutions, or will they insist on serious, credible solutions that protect communities while upholding the law.
In other words, will they choose common sense or madness?
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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