Aaron Flint, the Republican nominee for Montana's 1st Congressional District, pledges on his campaign issues page to spend the enforcement money in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans call the Working Families Tax Cuts and which sends $170.7 billion to immigration and border enforcement. In October 2026 he called for more deportations.
In January 2026 Flint called the Montana Democratic Party's statement that Renee Good's killing by an ICE agent "was not a self-defense shooting" lies; the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. In western Montana, advocates and local officials believe ICE detained more than 100 people in Gallatin County in the week of June 29, 2026, and a federal judge found the government likely violated one Bozeman man's right to due process.
Aaron Flint's Statements on ICE, Deportations and the Enforcement Money
- Flint Pledges to Use the Law's $170.7 Billion in Enforcement Money for More ICE Agents and Deportations. Aaron Flint's campaign issues page, as of October 26, 2026, calls to "Give Border Patrol and ICE the personnel and equipment" they need, to "Keep up the pressure until every illegal immigrant is deported from Montana," and to "Use congressional appropriations and enforcement dollars approved through the Working Families Tax Cut to fund these priorities." His campaign also defended the law against repeal on October 13, 2026. The law directs $170.7 billion to immigration and border enforcement, money that, by ICE's own cost estimates reported by the American Immigration Council, could support a detention population of 116,000 people by 2029. By March 2026 nearly 70,000 people were held in ICE detention, the most in several years, and more people had died in ICE custody since October than in the whole previous fiscal year, NPR reported.
- Flint Called to "Step Up the Deportations" in October 2026. NBC Montana reported on October 11, 2026 that Aaron Flint "applauded the Trump administration's immigration policy" and said: "We have got to step up the deportations." Days after ICE operations at Gallatin County job sites and traffic stops in the week of June 29, 2026, advocates and local officials told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle they believed "well over 100 people may have been detained," KMON reported.
- Flint Called It "Outright Lies" to Say ICE's Killing of Renee Good Was Not Self-Defense, in January 2026. On January 14, 2026, a week after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, 37, in her car in Minneapolis, Aaron Flint wrote on his radio blog of the Montana Democratic Party's statement that it "was not a self-defense shooting": "This is absolutely despicable from the Montana Democrat Party" and "Outright lies were spewed in the official statement." The county medical examiner in Minneapolis ruled Good's death a homicide, a finding on the cause of death rather than a criminal finding, and NPR reported that federal officials' claim that she had weaponized her vehicle was contradicted by video; no one has been criminally charged. The Trace has counted nine people killed by federal immigration agents in President Trump's second term, NPR reported.
- Flint Praised the Use of the Alien Enemies Act to Remove Immigrants, in April 2025. In an April 10, 2025 radio interview he posted on his blog, Aaron Flint said "the Supreme Court said, yes, President Trump has the authority to use the Alien Enemies Act to get these illegals the heck out of here." The administration sent 261 men to El Salvador's CECOT prison on March 15, 2025 after invoking the act; federal trial and appellate judges noted the men were not notified or given due process, and lawyers for many of them said their clients "either had no criminal record or were in the middle of asylum hearings."
- Flint Backs Removing Noncitizens From Aid; the Law He Defends Cut Refugees Off SNAP and Medicaid. Aaron Flint's issues page, as of October 26, 2026, pledges to "Remove all noncitizens from taxpayer-funded welfare programs," and the law his campaign defends ends SNAP, Medicaid and marketplace subsidies for refugees, people granted asylum and other lawfully present immigrants who do not hold green cards. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the law's health coverage limits will leave 1.4 million lawfully present immigrants uninsured by 2034, KFF reports, and refugees resettled in Missoula lost SNAP on November 1, 2025, The Pulp reported.
What the Enforcement Aaron Flint Backs Has Meant for Montana Families
- Families in Gallatin County hid at home after the ICE operations. After the ICE operations at Bozeman-area businesses and construction sites in the week of June 29, 2026, the immigrant resource nonprofit Bienvenidos handed out groceries and diapers to families too afraid to leave their homes, KMON reported.
- A federal judge found ICE likely violated a Bozeman man's due process rights. Jose David Cortes Torres, 20, a Bozeman man with no criminal record who cares for his grandmother, was arrested in the Gallatin County operation, Montana Public Radio reported. Judge Brian Morris found the government likely violated his constitutional right to due process by holding him without justification and ordered him released.
- Missoula refugees lose the aid that helped them resettle. Montana's health department notified refugees, asylees and humanitarian parolees that they would lose Medicaid on October 1, 2026, and a Missoula refugee told The Pulp: "Coming to America was a dream. I am not safe here now."
Frequently Asked Questions About Aaron Flint on Immigration and enforcement
What is Aaron Flint's record on immigration and enforcement under Trump?
Aaron Flint pledges to use the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's enforcement money, wants to keep up deportations until every immigrant in Montana without legal status is gone, and told NBC Montana the deportations must be stepped up. He defended ICE after an agent killed Renee Good, and he praised the use of the Alien Enemies Act for removals.
What did Aaron Flint say about Gallatin County and ICE?
In May 2025, when Gallatin County commissioners said anyone held for ICE should face criminal charges rather than civil immigration matters, Aaron Flint wrote that "They are obstructing federal law enforcement by issuing these demands." In July 2026 a federal judge ordered the release of a Bozeman man arrested by ICE in Gallatin County after finding his detention likely violated due process.
What did Aaron Flint say about the killing of Renee Good?
Aaron Flint called the Montana Democratic Party's statement on Renee Good's killing "Total BS" and "a vicious attack on public employees." Her family has sued federal officials, and NPR reported that the civil suits underscore the lack of criminal charges.
Last updated: 2026-10-26