In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Walz wrote that the Trump administration’s “federal occupation” of Minnesota has caused nothing but “chaos and violence.”
“The Trump administration’s assault on Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state,” he wrote. “It isn’t just. It isn’t legal. And, critically, it isn’t making anyone any safer.”
Walz called out Trump for his repeated claims that Minnesota jails release violent, unauthorized people back onto the streets, which he slammed as “lies.”
“In reality, the Minnesota Department of Corrections honors all federal and local detainers by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person committed to its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen. There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody,” he wrote.
He continued: “Yet the lies persist. This week, ICE tweeted that rural Cottonwood County had refused to honor a detainer for an alleged child sex predator. That’s not true. The county sheriff followed procedure and contacted ICE when the subject posted bail, but ICE agents were too busy wreaking havoc in the Twin Cities to do their actual job and pick the prisoner up.”
Walz said the presence of ICE agents in the state isn’t effective.
“It’s chaos. It’s illegal. And it’s un-American,” he said. “I fear that his hope is for the tension between ICE agents and the communities they’re ransacking to boil over—that he wants you to see more chaos on your TV screens, protests turn into riots, more people get hurt.”
But “Minnesotans aren’t taking the bait,” Walz said.
“They are protesting—loudly and urgently, but also peacefully. They are helping their neighbors cope with this violent, lawless assault on people of color throughout the state—walking children to school safely, preparing mutual-aid packages, and organizing to make sure these atrocities are well-documented so that those responsible can face justice,” he said.
He ended his op-ed by insisting Trump end his “unlawful, violent and chaotic campaign.”