Renee Parsons
Given the constant flow of chaos and turmoil within his administration, President Trump’s imperfections as President make it difficult to distinguish which crisis may be his most challenging, the most objectionable or perhaps his greatest political blunder during the first year in this current term in office. There are numerous options to choose from….
First elected in 2017-2020, President Trump recently completed his first year in this current term (2025-2028) as the President continues to bring ‘radical’ change to the White House. While foreign policy dilemmas dominated, the Trump Administration continues to wrestle with an unexpected crisis regarding ICE’s illicit over-reactions in Minnesota as it appears the entire state is living in a state of constant crisis with the murder of two American citizens by ICE officers.
While Trump was elected with the promise to close the American border and deport illegal immigrants, especially those with a criminal violent history, Biden Democrats allowed the border to remain open for four years as millions of illegal immigrants flowed into the country in search of Federal free-be benefits.
Tom Homan, the President’s ‘damage control’ brought in to Minnesota to ‘fix’ the situation, confirmed that ten million unvetted illegals had crossed the US border during the Biden administration at approximately 10 – 12,000 a day with two million ‘got-a-ways’ who did not want to be identified. Homan met with state and local officials, adding that the ‘hateful rhetoric must stop” and that ICE had been operating in a ‘challenging environment”.
Despite ICE’s unacceptable behavior as a source of responsibility for the tragedies, the larger issue remains continued deportations of illegal and possibly violent criminal immigrants as the majority of Americans continue to support deportations from the country; especially those collecting Federal benefits like health care and especially social security which opens the door to a wealth of benefits.
It is inescapable to not notice that the only city in the US which has experienced such a hostile reaction to the presence of ICE officers has been Minneapolis, Minnesota. Interestingly, no other major American city or state has reported any similar level of chaos or violence associated with either ICE or its deportation of illegal immigrants as seen in Minnesota.
It is also noteworthy that Minneapolis has been a ‘sanctuary’ city since 2013 and established a Sanctuary City Task Force in 2017 which limited cooperation with the Federal government’s immigration policy .
Tucker Carlson’s recent essay raised the Great Replacement theory of illegal migration, ICE deportations and redefining who is a real American suggests that an organized anti-ICE protest movement against deportations has accelerated and now threatens national stability.
Illegals who benefit from Democratic generosity includes a partisan political ‘pay back’ which assures each illegal beneficiary will cast their vote in support of the Democrat platform in exchange for free Federal benefits. In other words, the bottom line for failure to deport illegals will inevitably earn the Democrats increased voter registration rolls; thereby removing any semblance of free elections.
While there is barely time to mourn, well organized protests intensify in the streets in Minneapolis as an anti-ICE campaign has been stoked by those who strenuously object to the deportations. With the country’s largest Somali population in the US located in Minnesota, there are approximately 80,000 Somali-descendants living in the Twin Cities with approximately 37,000 naturalized US citizens.
It has recently been discovered that the State experienced a $9 Billion social services fraud including a full range of the state’s People Programs implicating some of the state’s predominately Somali refugee population. In response, Governor Tim Walz said “We will not tolerate fraud, and we will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”
Democratic Governor Walz who was running for re election in 2026 has recently announced he will not seek re election, yet the Governor remains in the crosshairs. Walz was Kamila Harris’ running mate in the 2024 Presidential election.
In a news conference on Sunday, Walz asked “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has declared that he refuses to enforce Federal immigration laws, citing its ‘negative impacts” which was prior to Homan’s arrival in Minnesota.
After the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, anti ICE protests escalated to new heights with the chaotic disruption of Sunday morning mass at the Cities Christian church services by anti-ICE protestors. More than a dozen protestors, shouting “ICE Out” and visibly harassed churchgoers with “House of the Devil… Why are you not standing up for your Latino friends.”
Mayhem continued in Minneapolis as Rep. Ilhan Omar was calling for DHS Secretary Noem’s resignation at a press conference as she was sprayed with an unknown strong smelling liquid by a stranger from the audience.
At approximately the same time, another group of vocal protestors invaded the lobby of a NYC hotel as if coordinated with the Minneapolis church incursion shouting “No ICE, No KKK, No Fascist USA.” NYC Mayor Mamdani referred to ICE as ‘a rogue agency.”
The larger question for the Trump Administration is whether the Good and Pretti ICE shootings were illustrative of a Federal policy to exploit an immigration crisis and whether Federalizing a masked paramilitary force with no id is about more than just rounding up illegal immigrants? With a $100 billion ICE budget, more than the US Marines, may be seen as normalizing criminal police behavior as a repressive tool foisting terror and lethal force on American citizen/protestors labeled ‘domestic terrorists’ as if to expand Executive power.
Further, if the GOP lose control of either the House or the Senate in the mid terms, will the Democrats present a different response to ICE as it may be assumed the Democrats will move to impeach the President. In the previous four years, have Dems created an illegal voter base or will Democrats use their authority in more egregious manner to further impair what remains of the country’s 250 year old Constitutional Republic?
Is there any reason to believe the Democrats would have offered a more reasonable response to ICE or be more moderate against American citizens? Is Trump’s immigration policy moving American society to wreck havoc on civil society by fostering a nightmare of Second Amendment abuses?
As Trump continues to take orders from war criminal Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu, will Democrats be more independent of the Zionist yoke? Where is the assurance that the Dems will provide a higher level of dialogue or protection for the First, Second and Fourth Amendments?
During Trump’s first year of this term, the Dems have noticeably not raised their collective voice to offer a productive alternative to Trump’s immigration policy regarding the presence of illegal immigrants – as its Sanctuary City status may constrain a Democratic response. To date, Dems remain shrewdly quiet in their response to GOP policies as they commit to no change in policy, making no statements that encourage a reversal of Trump policies.
Claiming that “I’m a second amendment person” Trump went on to express that “You can’t have guns, you can’t carry in to the room…a very unfortunate situation” when he clearly failed to identify a Second Amendment issue or adequately define ICE lawlessness.
Trump has provided all the evidence the Dems need to beat the GOP at the mid terms. Will the Dems provide a higher level of government, a true Constitutional Republic or are the party’s united in ICE exploiting the immigration crisis for its own motives imposing lethal force on American citizens.
Speaking in Iowa recently, the President claimed “we have the best poll numbers we have ever had” as he linked the specter of a third Presidential campaign (which is clearly unconstitutional). Real Clear Politics poll reports a composite of thirteen different polls rating Trump’s performance at 43% approval with the President’s disapproval at 55% while Rasmussen shows only 41% of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction.
In addition, the President’s errant policy with regard to ICE agents on American streets will be an obvious factor in the mid terms… raising alarm bells when the President mentions the potential of impeachment. The President has, in the past, insinuated that he would consider cancellation of the mid terms election as an option, although no American President has the legal authority to outright cancel an election even if a state of anarchy has been designated.
As we have seen, Trump has the chutzpah to issue a politically powerful ultimatum to demand conformance and would not hesitate to create a bona fide Constitutional crisis.
Assuming there are monitors within the Trump Administration who closely watch opinion polls, the time would be right to begin a crash course on how the GOP can survive its House and Senate re-election.
Renee Parsons has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with Friends of the Earth and a staff member in the US House of Representative in Washington, DC. Before its demise, she was also a member of the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and President of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter.