Michele Tafoya, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, pledges to protect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which gave ICE $45 billion for detention, and her campaign promises to "fight tooth and nail" against efforts to abolish ICE. On January 21, 2026, the day she entered the race, with about 3,000 federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge, she said she would like Minnesota law enforcement to work with them.
An ICE officer had killed Renee Good in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, and Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse, on January 24. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled both deaths homicides. In February 2026 Tafoya defended the agents' conduct, calling criticism of their actions from people who had "never been in the position of these ICE officers" unfair.
Michele Tafoya's Statements on ICE, Operation Metro Surge and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Tafoya Pledged to Protect the Law That Gave ICE $45 Billion for Detention. As of October 25, 2026, Michele Tafoya's Senate campaign website pledges to "Protect working families' tax cuts" and says "The far left wants to repeal the Working Family Tax Cuts that just put thousands of dollars back in Minnesotans' pockets." The House of Representatives' April 2026 resolution on the law states that Public Law 119-21, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is commonly known as the "Working Families Tax Cuts." That pledge covers the law's immigration enforcement money. The law gave ICE $45 billion for detention, a 308 percent increase on an annual basis over ICE's 2024 detention budget, and $29.85 billion for enforcement and removal through September 30, 2029. Nearly 70,000 people were in ICE detention by March 2026, and ICE recorded 31 detainee deaths in 2025, a two-decade high. A Marquette Law School poll in early 2026 found 60% of adults disapprove of how ICE handles its job.
- Tafoya Called for Minnesota Police to Work With Federal Agents During Operation Metro Surge. On January 21, 2026, the day she filed to run, with thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents deployed in the Twin Cities, Michele Tafoya told WCCO "I would really like it if Minnesota's law enforcement could work with federal law enforcement," CBS News reported. Operation Metro Surge sent about 3,000 immigration enforcement agents into Minnesota, against 150 before the surge, the Minnesota Reformer reported. Two weeks before her remark, an ICE officer killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, and the medical examiner listed her death as a homicide, and federal officials' claim that she had weaponized her vehicle was contradicted by video evidence, NPR reported. Three days after it, Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti while he was filming an immigration operation in Minneapolis; his death was also ruled a homicide.
- Tafoya Defended ICE Agents' Conduct in Minneapolis After the Good and Pretti Killings. On a February 3, 2026 OutKick podcast, asked about coaches who criticized the actions of ICE agents after the death of Renee Good, Michele Tafoya said "If you've never been in the position of these ICE officers who have been attacked had rocks thrown at them, had frozen water bottles thrown at them, have been just had people spit on them (and) in their faces, move cars at them ... It's very easy to say, 'I would have done it differently.'" She added: "But to Monday morning quarterback, as we like to say, I think is unfair," and called the agents "hard-working people" who are "just trying to do their jobs." In September 2026 the Justice Department's leadership quashed plans to bring civil rights charges against an ICE agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, in the leg in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge and then lying about it, ProPublica reported; it was one of three shootings by immigration agents in the city. NPR reported in October 2026 that no one had been criminally charged in Good's death.
- Tafoya Backs the Laken Riley Act and Pledges to Fight Efforts to Abolish ICE. Michele Tafoya's campaign website says she will "fight tooth and nail against the far left's campaign to abolish ICE and reopen America's borders." It pledges to "Enforce our laws, deport criminal illegal aliens and let federal, state and local law enforcement work together." and faults Sen. Tina Smith for voting against the Laken Riley Act, the January 2025 law that requires detention of immigrants accused of certain crimes. Immigration judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification for detention, KPBS reported in August 2026, and because the law imposes mandatory detention before people have their day in court, civil rights organizations warned it would deny due process; in one San Diego case a county judge dismissed the criminal charge but the man stayed detained. More than 70% of the 65,000-plus people in ICE detention do not have criminal convictions, KPBS reported from ICE data.
What Operation Metro Surge and the Enforcement Michele Tafoya Backs Did in Minnesota
- Arrests and deportation flights. Federal officials announced 4,000 arrests during Operation Metro Surge, and on January 10, 2026 a peak of 246 detainees were flown out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in one day, the Minnesota Reformer reported from activists' flight data.
- Children detained. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was detained with his father in Minneapolis and held at the Dilley family detention center in Texas, ProPublica reported.
- Minneapolis killings. Alex Pretti, who was killed by Border Patrol agents, was a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse, Native News Online reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michele Tafoya on Immigration and enforcement
What is Michele Tafoya's record on immigration and enforcement under Trump?
Michele Tafoya pledges to protect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its ICE detention money, and her campaign promises to fight efforts to abolish ICE and backs the Laken Riley Act. During Operation Metro Surge she called for Minnesota police to work with federal agents, and after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis she said criticism of the agents from the sidelines was unfair.
What did Michele Tafoya say about Operation Metro Surge?
Michele Tafoya said on January 21, 2026, during the surge, that she would like Minnesota law enforcement to work with federal law enforcement. Minnesota Reformer reported in February 2026 that a Trump-appointed federal judge ordered ICE to give detained immigrants in Minnesota access to lawyers within an hour of detaining them and not to move them out of state for 72 hours.
Does Michele Tafoya want to abolish ICE?
No. Michele Tafoya's campaign website says she will fight "tooth and nail" against the campaign to abolish ICE. The Marquette Law School poll found in early 2026 that a majority of adults disapprove of how ICE handles its job.
Last updated: 2026-10-25