ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democrats hope to rein in the power of federal immigration officers in Minnesota as the state’s legislative session gets underway Tuesday, while Republicans will focus on combatting fraud in taxpayer-funded programs that President Donald Trump cited to justify the recent immigration enforcement surge.
While White House border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that more than 1,000 officers have left the Twin Cities area, and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead, the aftermath will continue to reverberate at the state Capitol during the session, which runs through May.
It's unclear whether any significant changes can pass the closely divided Legislature. The House is tied with a Republican speaker, while Democrats hold only a one-vote majority in the Senate. So nothing can pass without bipartisan support. And it's an election year, with all 201 legislative seats on the ballot. House Speaker Lisa Demuth is among the GOP candidates running for governor and has expressed hope she will win Trump's endorsement. All of that could make compromise difficult.
“There are definitely going to be priorities on both sides of the aisle. ... But when it comes right down to it, we need to have bipartisan votes to move bills through the committees and get the work done for Minnesotans,” Demuth told reporters Monday.
Capitol security is tighter this session following the assassination of Democratic former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband last summer. All visitors now undergo weapons screening.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week proposed a $10 million package of relief for small businesses that lost customers and workers during the surge, and more aid proposals could be coming.
Just ahead of the session, House and Senate Democrats unveiled 11 bills to counter what they consider some of the worst excesses by federal immigration officers during the surge.
They're meant to keep federal officers away from schools, childcare centers, hospitals and colleges. They would also ban federal agents from wearing face masks, while requiring them to display visible identification. They would also require that federal authorities allow state investigators to participate in investigations of shootings by federal agents, such as the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The state remains frozen out of those cases. The FBI officially notified the state Monday that it won't share information or evidence from its investigation into Pretti's death.
The top House Democrat, Zack Stephenson, said they don't expect support from Republican leaders, but they're hoping some GOP lawmakers will break with their party.
“What we’ve seen these last six weeks has been so exceptional, so damaging, that I don’t know how you can be human and not respond to it,” Stephenson said. "But even if it’s not that, we also know it’s an election year and voters are watching, and voters will hold people accountable if they don’t stand up to this administration."
Stephenson also acknowledged that any restrictions the state tries to impose on federal law enforcement are likely to be challenged in court.
“But some things are worth fighting for,” Stephenson added. “And if we’re not going to fight for this, what are we doing here?”
Republicans have expressed little enthusiasm for taking on federal authorities and hope to shift the focus to fighting fraud.
“Minnesotans want our state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” said Rep. Harry Niska, the No. 2 House Republican.
One of the top GOP anti-fraud priorities is legislation to create an independent Office of Inspector General to investigate and prevent the misuse of public funds. The Senate passed a similar proposal last year on a bipartisan 60-7 vote. House Democratic leaders blocked a vote at the end of the session, but the proposal remains alive this year.
Republicans also want to require more accountability for agencies and officials who let fraud happen on their watch.
The final two of the nine people charged for their alleged roles in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul, where an ICE official served as a pastor, have pleaded not guilty.
Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort and Trahern Crews, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, entered their pleas during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko. Other defendants pleading not guilty to civil rights charges at previous arraignments included former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon.
Fort told reporters and a crowd of supporters afterward that she was exercising her freedom of the press to cover the story of the protest at Cities Church on Jan. 18 while centering the voices of people who otherwise would not be heard.
“As a journalist who is from Minnesota, this case doesn’t just leave me fighting for my freedom, it is the government trying to muzzle me, to make me unable to report on one of the most historic cases, not just in our state, but in our country,” Fort said.
Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort speaks to reporters and supporters outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, after pleading not guilty over her alleged role in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Eulogies are pouring in after the death of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, who led the U.S. Civil Rights Movement for decades. The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate was 84.
“He was a gifted negotiator and a courageous bridge‑builder, serving humanity by bringing calm into tense rooms and creating pathways where none existed.
“My family shares a long and meaningful history with him, rooted in a shared commitment to justice and love. As we grieve, we give thanks for a life that pushed hope into weary places.”
“Today, I lost the man who first called me into purpose when I was just twelve years old. And our nation lost one of its greatest moral voices. The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson was not simply a civil rights leader; he was a movement unto himself. He carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice. One of the greatest honors of my life was learning at his side. He reminded me that faith without action is just noise. He taught me that protest must have purpose, that faith must have feet, and that justice is not seasonal, it is daily work.”
"Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history. ... Reverend Jackson also created opportunities for generations of African Americans and inspired countless more, including us. Michelle got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager. And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office in the land.”
“I knew him well, long before becoming President. He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts.’ He was very gregarious - Someone who truly loved people! ... Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him.”
“We were friends for almost fifty years since we met in 1977 at the 20th anniversary of the integration of Little Rock Central High. ... Reverend Jackson championed human dignity and helped create opportunities for countless people to live better lives. Throughout it all, he kept marching to the music of his conscience, his convictions, and his causes.”
“The Reverend Jackson lent his powerful voice to the U.N. to work against racism, against apartheid, and for human rights, including taking part in a number of events here at U.N. headquarters.” — in a statement from U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“The Reverend taught me so many things through the enormity of his leadership, his passion, and his endless sacrifices for ‘the least of these.’ ... He taught everybody that we are SOMEBODY, and his spirit will endure forever."
“As our nation faces the greatest attack on the right to vote since the Jim Crow era, Reverend Jackson’s life and work remind us that progress does not happen by accident — it requires citizens willing to organize and fight for it.”
“He was a frequent presence during our April 4th commemorations of Dr. King’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel, not as a guest, but as a witness to history and a steward of King’s unfinished work. His words, presence, and leadership during those solemn remembrances reminded us all of the price of freedom and the urgency of our continued struggle.” — The National Civil Rights Museum is located on the site of the former motel where King was assassinated
“Reverend Jesse Jackson was not only a civil rights icon—he was family to the NAACP. His work advanced Black America at every turn. He challenged this nation to live up to its highest ideals, and he reminded our movement that hope is both a strategy and a responsibility. His historic run for president inspired millions and brought race to the forefront of American politics." — NAACP Chairman Leon W. Russell, Vice Chair Karen Boykin Towns and President & CEO Derrick Johnson
“His campaigns for an end to apartheid included disinvestment from the apartheid economy and challenging the support the regime enjoyed in certain circles and institutions internationally.
“We are deeply indebted to the energy, principled clarity and personal risk with which he supported our struggle and campaigned for freedom and equality in other parts of the world.”
“Of the generation that took up the mantle directly from Dr. King, Jesse Jackson stood among the last standard-bearers. ... He created what he often called ‘productive tension,’ forcing the nation to confront its conscience and act.” — Morial is the National Urban League president and CEO
“His historic presidential campaigns paved the way for generations of Black leaders to imagine ourselves in rooms we were once told were closed to us. Reverend Jackson also stood up when it mattered; when it wasn’t easy and when it wasn’t popular. His support for marriage equality and for LGBTQ+ people affirmed a simple, powerful truth: our liberation is bound together.” — Robinson is president of the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ rights organization
“Through his historic presidential campaigns and decades of organizing, Rev. Jackson helped break open doors for Black political power in this nation, expanding the electorate, building multiracial coalitions, and paving the way for a new generation of Black elected leaders. ... Among his many accomplishments – and across decades of service to our community and our nation as an activist, religious leader, and political trailblazer – Rev. Jackson will be remembered most for his unparalleled courage and moral clarity that will stand the test of time." — Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke and members of the Congressional Black Caucus
A flower is left with a note at the home of Jesse Jackson in Chicago, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
FILE - Democratic Presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cuban President Fidel Castro shake hands following a post-midnight news conference in Havana, Cuba, where the two leaders outlined a plan for improving relations between the U.S. and Cuba, June 7, 1984. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, left, walks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the opening ceremony of the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, Aug. 31, 2001. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia, File)
FILE - Former South African President Nelson Mandela, left, walks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson after their meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 26, 2005. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
FILE - Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., right, and his aide Rev. Jesse Jackson are seen in Chicago, Aug. 19, 1966. (AP Photo/Larry Stoddard, File)
FILE - U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and NAACP President Derrick Johnson march across the Edmund Pettus bridge during the 60th anniversary of the march to ensure that African Americans could exercise their constitutional right to vote, March 9, 2025, in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
