"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security surged 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota - a state more than a thousand miles from the southern border that's not known for having a sizable population of immigrants in the U.S. illegally - calling it the largest such operation ever. Many people have wondered: Why Minnesota? Vice President JD Vance, who visited Minneapolis on Jan. 22 to defend federal immigration enforcement, gave a misleading answer."
"The vice president's visit to Minneapolis came after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 but before a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. Both were U.S. citizens. PolitiFact asked spokespersons for the White House and Homeland Security for Vance's evidence about Minneapolis having the "highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws" and received no response."
"There are about 130,000 immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally in Minnesota, according to 2023 Pew Research Center data, the most recent year available. They represent about 2% of the state's population and about 1% of the unauthorized population nationwide. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan group, estimated a slightly smaller number for Minnesota of about 100,000 immigrants in the U.S. illegally."
The Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota in what was described as the largest such operation ever. Vice President JD Vance claimed Minneapolis had the highest concentration of people violating immigration laws and the most assaults on law enforcement officers, a claim for which officials provided no evidence. Minnesota has an estimated 100,000–130,000 immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, representing about 2% of the state's population and roughly 1% of the national unauthorized population. Dozens of other U.S. metro areas have higher concentrations of unauthorized immigrants.
Read at Poynter
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]