WATCH: Walz deputy lambasts Laken Riley Act in bid to keep Minnesota Senate seat blue
Flanagan is trailing Rep Angie Craig in the latest polling for the Democratic senatorial primary in Minnesota
By Charles Creitz Fox News
Published May 4, 2026 2:05pm EDT
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, second-in-command to Gov. Tim Walz in Minnesota, flamed the Laken Riley Act before a cheering crowd at a "Stop Oligarchy" rally headlined by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over the weekend.
Flanagan, who is trailing behind Rep. Angie Craig in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average for the Democratic senatorial primary, is seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith, who also reportedly endorsed her at the Rochester rally.
Flanagan name-dropped Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two anti-ICE activists shot and killed in law enforcement-involved shootings earlier this year, as the Land of 10,000 Lakes descended into anti-immigration enforcement chaos.
"We’ve got to zoom out for a second and we have to talk about how we got here, because this also wasn't an accident. Donald Trump ran on an agenda where we knew that ICE would be more powerful," Flanagan said.
"This didn't just sneak up on us. It wasn't in the fine print. There were literally gigantic signs that said, mass deportees now. It was not a secret. And the very first vote in the second Trump administration that he brought forward was for the Laken Riley Act."
Flanagan slammed the law, sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., as a vessel to strip due process from immigrants and allow for indefinite detention of adults and children.
"It was the green light to give ICE unprecedented power to totally terrorize our communities," Flanagan went on.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/walz-deputy-lambasts-laken-riley-act-bid-keep-minnesota-senate-seat-blue
