‘We don’t want ICE’: Meet the Minnesota lawmakers fighting against Trump’s immigration crackdown

What this episode is about

Minnesota lawmakers are actively opposing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures and advocating for cuts to funding for ICE and CBP, amidst a backdrop of community trauma and economic strain caused by aggressive immigration policies. With recent announcements signaling a reduction in enforcement in Minnesota, local leaders and activists are urging Congress to refuse additional funding for agencies that they believe harm vulnerable populations.

Key takeaways

• Despite DHS funding woes, ICE still has a $75 billion lifeline—talk about government budget resiliency!
• Minneapolis residents organize against ICE; it’s grassroots activism fueled by love and resilience, proving community strength.
• Trust in governmental promises is at an all-time low—'trust but verify' is the new mantra for Minnesota communities.
• Generational trauma and economic ruin: the real casualties of immigration enforcement often go unaddressed in policy discussions.
• Amid chaos, hockey moms and pastors unite to support neighbors—patriotism can be as local as a school bus.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Aaron May Quaid (Host) · 5 min speaking
• Brad Tapke (Guest) · 5 min speaking
• Keith Ellison (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Minnesota, Aaron May Quaid, Brad Tapke, Tom Holman
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Northfield, Minnesota, Carleton College
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Minnesota, Senator Ron Johnson, Mandy & Ralph Ellison, Northfield
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Minnesota, Senator Ron Johnson, Tom Holman, Mandy & Ralph Ellison
5. 12:00 – 13:33: Minnesota, Aaron May Quaid

Notable quotes from "‘We don’t want ICE’: Meet the Minnesota lawmakers fighting against Trump’s immigration crackdown"

• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey both cautiously welcomed the drawdown.

  about Minnesota · at 0:28

• Joining us now are Minnesota State Senator Aaron May Quaid and Minnesota State Representative Brad Tapke, who are a part of that Minnesota delegation that came to D.C.

  about Aaron May Quaid · at 1:39

• AND I HEARD A LOT ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN NORTHFIELD, THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING IN YOUR COMMUNITIES HAS been experienced down in Northfield.

  about Northfield · at 4:51

• A tragedy was going to happen, and you encouraged it.

  about Senator Ron Johnson · at 7:34

• We don't want ice in our communities.

  about Brad Tapke · at 10:39

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Aaron May Quaid — Person · Main guest · 3 mentions · first at 1:41
  Interviewed as a Minnesota state senator describing on-the-ground impacts of ICE activity and advocating for Congress to restrict DHS/ICE funding without reforms.
• Brad Tapke — Person · Main guest · 2 mentions · first at 1:42
  Interviewed as a Minnesota state representative emphasizing distrust of federal promises, describing community mutual-aid responses, and reacting to Tom Homan’s posture toward Minnesota.
• Tom Holman — Person · Referenced official / policy actor · 2 mentions · first at 0:21
  Cited as the White House 'border czar' announcing an end to the Minnesota enforcement surge while signaling ongoing capacity to return, shaping the guests’ distrust and policy concerns.
  ENDING THE SURGE BUT WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY AND LET ME SAY THIS, OVER 800 FLIGHTS A DAY LAND IN ST. PAUL MINNESOTA.
• Senator Ron Johnson — Person · Referenced lawmaker / antagonist in segment · 5 mentions · first at 7:23
  Shown confronting Minnesota AG Keith Ellison in a Senate setting; guests frame him as responsible for enabling funding and escalation that brought enforcement actions to Minnesota.
• Mandy & Ralph Ellison — Person · Referenced official / witness in hearing clip · 3 mentions · first at 7:17
  Minnesota Attorney General who appears in a Senate exchange with Ron Johnson; guests cite him as defending Minnesotans and supporting First Amendment rights amid enforcement actions.
  Because everything you said was untrue.
• Jacob Frey — Person · Referenced local official · 1 mention · first at 0:28
  Mentioned as Minneapolis mayor who cautiously welcomed the drawdown, representing the city’s official stance alongside community accounts of harm and disruption.
  Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey both cautiously welcomed the drawdown.

Places & events

• Minnesota — Place · Setting · 12 mentions · first at 0:27
  Primary location discussed in the episode, focusing on immigration enforcement and community response.
• Northfield — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 4:45
  Mentioned as a community in Minnesota experiencing similar issues with immigration enforcement.
• Carleton College — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 4:42
  Mentioned as an educational institution in Northfield, Minnesota, with context about local events.
  AND I HEARD A LOT ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN NORTHFIELD, THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING IN YOUR COMMUNITIES HAS been experienced down in Northfield.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:01 of Homeland Security shutdown. Funding ran out just after midnight amid an impasse in Congress and Democrats say they won't approve additional money for DHS without reforms. But ICE will still be able to tap into all that money, $75 billion to keep the agency running as usual due to President Trump's tax and spending law. It comes as this week White House border czar Tom Holman announced an end to the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey both cautiously welcomed the drawdown.

0:36 The fact of the matter is they left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions. They were looking to implement a national agenda based on coercing us to change local policy and here's the thing, we didn't. The people of Minneapolis stood up they stood up for their neighbors they loved on each other and I think that's the kind of patriotism that is ultimately going to get us through this meanwhile activists from Minnesota held a rally at the U.S.

1:08 Capitol this week urging lawmakers to hold the line on DHS funding the least our representatives could do is confront this administration use the power of the purse and cut off the flow of funds to ice and CBP. If you truly want to protect children, don't vote for a bill that provides ice with more money to continue harming those children. Joining us now are Minnesota State Senator Aaron May Quaid and Minnesota State Representative Brad Tapke, who are a part of that Minnesota delegation that came to D.C. this week.

1:50 Thank you both for sticking around in D.C. and talking with us. I want to start with how the community, how you guys are feeling after weeks of feeling under siege right after weeks of watching your neighbors both citizen and non-citizen alike be dragged and hurt and be shot um and now hearing that the administration is going to says they're going to draw down to pre-surge levels so I'll start with you well I think the important thing to know is that right now the conditions on the ground in Minnesota have not changed and I can tell you in my community it's worse.

2:29 They are aggressively going after observers, they are following people, boxing them in, they're still at the bus stops, they're still at the schools. I just got a text from my superintendent last night informing me of ice presents at a school and a munchie school. And so the last time they introduced a drawdown, they said we're going to have 700 agents removed. They shifted to targeting children. And there is a feeling on the ground of what does this drawdown mean? What is the shift? And right now the shift has been more aggression.

2:56 Representative Tapke, do you feel the same? Yeah, we're very much in a trust but verify type mode right now. Like we have everyone in our community has all been harmed by ICE. It's been just a terrible, terrible thing that's been happening, and we've heard things before from the administration that they are going to do X or Y or Z. And there's just no trust that they're actually going to do what they say they're going to do. And so we need to make sure that we continue the pressure and continue to work to get them out of our community.

3:23 I think something that we haven't devoted enough of the conversation to, granted because there's been a lot more dramatic things to focus on and urgent things, is the economic damage that this surge has done. Is there any plan to, if and when ICE does ultimately leave, do you all have any plan underway to try to backfill and replenish these small businesses and all of these people who have essentially disappeared? Yeah, we've been working really, really hard to make sure to take care of our people. Like that's our number one thing that we've been doing is making sure that we have hundreds of people in my community.

4:03 We have 45,000 people in Shakopee and hundreds of people are gone and missing. And it is...that is our number. We've had our head down protecting our communities and working to take care of our neighbors and supporting our small business. We have lots of immigrant owned small businesses in Shakopee, and we have it's really, really important that we take care of those. And but right now we've had our head down protecting and working together with our people to make sure that we are, you know, kids are taken care of and they get to school and just those basic everyday life kinds of things is where we've been And Representative, you just made me smile because it's I've never heard Shakopee mentioned outside of Minnesota.

4:42 And as everyone knows, I went to Carleton College, went to Carleton College in Northfield, MINNESOTA, AND I WAS THERE LAST WEEKEND FOR OUR TRUSTEES MEETING. AND I HEARD A LOT ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN NORTHFIELD, THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING IN YOUR COMMUNITIES HAS been experienced down in Northfield. And I'm just wondering, in your respective communities, and Senator May Coit, I'll start with you, the response of the community, was it excuse me was it organic or is it something that was organized like how fervently and angry in addition to being scared was the community yeah i mean it's both organic and uh something that just happened spontaneously and i've said this a lot too but what you're seeing on the ground is hockey moms with minivans and whistles daycare dads with pickup trucks delivering groceries grandmas with costco accounts labor leaders with iphones church leaders and moms

5:37 pastors rabbi with unwavering faith that is who has you know risen up and organized together it is hyperlocal so i don't even know what goes on in brad's community even though we are connected to each other because i'm so focused on my own northfield is closer to apple valley where i live than minneapolis or st paul and i only hear what's going on in northfield from the representative there we are so deeply organized so deeply um and hyper localized and it's decentralized there is no one leader I'm going to say, you're here, you're here.

6:03 I'm representing Tanke, one thing I heard from a person in Northfield that just shook me because of just the imagery, she apologized for her car and then she said, and I quote, I was underground railroading food all night yeah this is in Northfield yeah I mean that's uh it's an everyday all-day occurrence we hundreds and hundreds of boxes of foods go out a day just in our way that our communities are. As Senator was talking about, like we have resorted and have had to just take care of our communities. Like we have our heads down and we are working really hard to make sure that our communities are taking care of ISIS head, you know, know, checkpoints set up at mobile home parks and no one can come in or out without having their papers checked.

6:48 And it's just completely terrible things that you wouldn't expect to happen in the United States of America at this time. And so we have been having to resort to those kinds of things. And we have it has been a very organic movement that we've learned from like in my community, we're in the suburbs, we learn from folks in Minneapolis as to how they were because they started before we did and Chicago started before they did. And all of those things. And so we've learned and stood on the shoulders of Giants to make sure that we are taking care of people.

7:14 You guys weren't the only folks in town this week from Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison was also there. He was in front of this in front of the Senate. I want to play something that Senator Ron Johnson said to your attorney general get your response on the other side. Is it any wonder they're at hair trigger alert? A tragedy was going to happen, and you encouraged it. And you ought to feel damn guilty about it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

7:49 Yeah, sit there and smirk. Smirk. It's sick. It is despicable. Are you asking me for comment, Senator? Because everything you said was untrue. It was a nice theatrical performance, but it was all lies. Senator Hassan? Oh. An unflappable attorney general you have there, for one. But, Senator, when you see something like that, he's not just talking about Keith Ellison. He's talking about you guys. He's talking about your community members, those rabbis and those hockey moms you're talking about. He is equating or saying that the people in Minnesota brought this on themselves.

8:33 What's your response to that? Ron Johnson and Republicans brought this to Minnesota. And I want to be clear, the ICE presence in Minnesota is just the armed version of what Trump and Republicans have been doing in Minnesota all year, right? They cut our child care funding and our higher education funding and children cancers research and LIHEAP dollars and Medicaid. You know, this is the armed version of that siege. And Ron Johnson voted for that. Ron Johnson is the one who sent an unaccountable lawless paramilitary into the streets of Minnesota with no strings attached money more than any other law enforcement agency in the United States of America.

9:04 So I think what he's doing is projecting onto our wonderful attorney general who has been doing an incredible job trying to both keep the people of Minnesota safe, encouraging us to exercise our First Amendment rights. But he knows, Ron Johnson knows what he has done and what history will know about him. And I think you see that when he's yelling at Keith Ellison, he's yelling at himself. Before we're out of time, Representative Tapkey, I'm wondering what you make of Tom Homan, because it seems like he's come in and tried to carve out a different path than Greg Bovino did.

9:35 And obviously some of what we've seen from the administration has been strictly rhetorical. But Tom Holman is the one person who now has followed through on some of what he has promised to, although, as you noted, conditions remain the same. So we do still have to keep tabs on whether or not ICE ultimately is withdrawn but is he someone that actually you found local and state officials can genuinely work with? I mean I appreciate the fact that he's having conversations with folks like uh and it seems like that. Bars on the floor.

10:09 Yeah exactly it's it's a really uh hard thing to say is like people are actually talking to our communities and this has all been like with the Ron Johnson uh Senator Johnson things like it is all uh performance art and it's all uh hurting people to hurt people to some other greater goal that we just don't understand it is uh just a fascinating thing and so i i appreciate that he's uh doing the bare minimum of things but also it is something that has to happen to talk to our communities, to understand what we're going through.

10:39 We don't want ice in our communities. We just don't want them there. It is important to take care of the bad guys, right? What they talk about. And that's that. But that's not what they're doing. What they're doing is working on suppressing elections. What they're working on is hurting people. And we need to make sure that everyone is cognizant of that fact and keeps their eye on the ball as to where this is going. Senator I WANT TO MAKE QUADE BEFORE WE GO, ON THIS QUESTION OF TOM HOMEN, LET ME JUST PLAY SOMETHING HE SAID ON THURSDAY ON FOX NEWS.

11:09 GET A RESPONSE QUICKLY ON THE OTHER SIDE. ANY OTHER SURGE OPERATION, L.A., IT ENDED. LOS IT ENDED, NEW ORLEANS IT ENDED THIS IS ENDING THE SURGE BUT WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY AND LET ME SAY THIS, OVER 800 FLIGHTS A DAY LAND IN ST. PAUL MINNESOTA. IF WE NEED TO COME BACK, WE'LL COME BACK. THAT SOUNDED LIKE A THREAT. YEAH, IT DID. AND IT SOUNDED LIKE A PROMISE. AND I THINK IT'S WHY YOU HEAR THE DISTRUST FOR TOM HOLLMAN FROM MYSELF AND REPRESENTATIVE TABKEY IS BECAUSE THEY SAY OKAY WE'RE leaving, but they didn't say we're leaving and we're not coming back.

11:43 Or we're going to come back with warrants for specific people, with actual rules, with uniforms of any kind, you know, uncovering our faces. It seems like they're going to continue. I mean, Minnesota is the test case. This is what they want to unleash on the rest of the country, and I think what we've seen here is that their first try was very unpopular, and I worry about what that second try looks like, and I worry that it's going to be Minnesota again. Because what lessons did they learn while they were in Minnesota, is the question that I have.

12:10 Right? Oh, I'm sorry. No, finish your thought. Along with it, like, as we were here to talk to the federal delegations and Congress and senators about what is happening in Minnesota, make sure people understand. But then also along with that, is it they ice does not follow the law? They're lawless, reckless. And so by getting policy into legislation is important and it's key for future judicial action and things like that. But they don't obey THEY DON'T FOLLOW THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HERE UNDERSTANDS THAT AND DOESN'T, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T HAVE MORE MONEY COMING SO THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO CONTINUE HURTING DO THEY UNDERSTAND THAT REAL QUICK, THE FOLKS THAT YOU TALK TO ON CAPITOL HILL, DO THEY GET IT?

12:50 I THINK THEY DO. WE'RE UNDER DESCRIBING WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MINNESOTA. IT'S ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE WHAT IS HAPPENING and the deluge and the everydayness of it, I do think that they conceptually get it. I think you have to be there to actually see it and experience it. Right. Minnesota State Senator Aaron McQuaid and State Representative Brad Tabke, thank you both very much, really for coming on set.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "‘We don’t want ICE’: Meet the Minnesota lawmakers fighting against Trump’s immigration crackdown"?

Aaron May Quaid (Host), Brad Tapke (Guest), Keith Ellison (Guest).

What is "‘We don’t want ICE’: Meet the Minnesota lawmakers fighting against Trump’s immigration crackdown" about?

Minnesota lawmakers are actively opposing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures and advocating for cuts to funding for ICE and CBP, amidst a backdrop of community trauma and economic strain caused by aggressive immigration policies. With recent announcements signaling a reduction in enforcement in Minnesota, local leaders and activists are urging Congress to refuse…

What is mentioned in this MS NOW episode?

9 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Minnesota, Aaron May Quaid, Brad Tapke, Tom Holman, Senator Ron Johnson, Northfield. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "‘We don’t want ICE’: Meet the Minnesota lawmakers fighting against Trump’s immigration crackdown"?

The episode runs 14 min; the transcript is about 2,437 words in 23 timestamped sections.

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