Over the past couple of months, I’ve been using poll data to find out what Minnesotans want the federal immigration system to achieve — its ends — and how they want those ends achieved, the means. In addition, given that immigration policy is a federal issue, I have tried to discover what actions Minnesotans want their state and local leaders to take on it. With the results of our new Thinking Minnesota Poll, we are able to add substantial new weight to these findings.
Federal ends
What do Minnesotans think the federal government should be trying to achieve on immigration?
The Star Tribune/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Minnesota Poll last June asked:
Which of the following statements comes closest to your point of view: All undocumented immigrants should be deported; undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records should be allowed to stay in the U.S. in order to work, but not allowed to become citizens; or undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records should be allowed to stay and become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over time?
“Stay and become citizens” was the choice of the majority — 59% — among all respondents. But, as I noted in January:
This is not a terribly helpful question. What do the 71% of respondents who favor “undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records” remaining under certain circumstances think ought to happen to those illegal immigrants who do? Should they be deported? If so, Mayor Jacob Frey, for one, disagrees. “Violent criminals should be held accountable based on the crimes they commit,” he tweeted earlier this week, “not based on where they are from,” lining up alongside those aforementioned extremists who oppose any deportations at all. He might say that he doesn’t want “a working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador” deported, but he doesn’t want violent criminals deported either.
There is little that I can find in the KSTP/SurveyUSA poll or the Star Tribune‘s Minnesota poll to indicate what Minnesotans think ought to happen to illegal immigrants with criminal records. In a New York Times-Ipsos poll conducted in January last year, 87% of respondents said they supported removing all migrants “who are here illegally and have criminal records.” What are the numbers for that in Minnesota?
Our Thinking Minnesota Poll answers this. We asked: “Thinking about the issue of immigration, how much would you support or oppose the following United
States immigration policies?” The first one was: “Deporting individuals here illegally who also have criminal records in the U.S. or abroad.”
Among respondents, 81% supported this policy. It is policy was popular across the subgroups; politically, it won 94% support from Republicans, 80% from Independents, and 71% from Democrats; it won support across all sex and age groups, from a low of 76% among women aged 18 to 54 to a high of 85% among men aged 55 and over; and geographically, it won support across the state, from 81% in both the Twin Cities and “Rest of State” to 83% in the “MSP Suburbs.”
At the same time, there was much less support for “Deporting as many people as possible who are here illegally back to their country of origin.” Among respondents, 48% supported this policy while 49% were opposed.
These results tell us that Minnesotans do not support the extreme stance taken by the likes of Mayor Frey, for example, that even violent criminals illegally in the country ought not to be deported. There is widespread support in our state for the deportation of foreign criminals.
Federal means
If this is what Minnesotans want the federal government to do, how do they want them to do it?
In December, a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll asked: “In general, do you approve or disapprove of the strategies being used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as “ICE,” in enforcing immigration laws in Minnesota?” Among “All” respondents, the poll found that 41% approved while 56% disapproved.
In January, KSTP/SurveyUSA poll asked the same question. Among “All” respondents, the poll found that 38% now approved while 64% now disapproved.
The Star Tribune/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Minnesota Poll last June asked: “Do you support or oppose deporting undocumented immigrants without a court hearing?” There was a majority for “Oppose” — 53% — among all respondents.
These results tell us that, while Minnesotans might want criminal illegal immigrants deported at rates comparable to the rest of the country, they do not like the way the federal government is doing it. Of course, that leaves open the question of how they would like the federal government to deport these folks.
What should state and local government do?
While the making and enforcing of immigration policy is a federal matter, constitutionally speaking, Minnesotans do seem to want their state and local officials involved.
In both May and December 2025, we asked “Thinking about some issues, which ONE or TWO of the following issue areas do you believe should be the top priorities for the Governor and State Legislature here in Minnesota?” As Table 1 shows, “Inflation and Cost of Living” held its position as Minnesotan’s leading concern, so watch out for more from us on “affordability.” But we also see that the share of Minnesotans naming “Illegal Immigration and Border Security” surged by eight percentage points, moving from 7th out of fifteen issues to 3rd. It now ranks as a top three concern in both the “MSP Suburbs” and the “Rest of State.”
Table 1: Thinking about some issues, which ONE or TWO of the following issue areas do you believe should be the top priorities for the Governor and State Legislature here in Minnesota?
But what, exactly, was it that Minnesotans wanted state policymakers to do?
The January, KSTP/SurveyUSA poll asked: “Should state and local law enforcement in Minnesota do more to help the federal government with its immigration enforcement?”
Among respondents, 50% said “Yes” while 36% said “No.” “That is a gap of 14 percentage points,” I pointed out in February:
This popularity is widespread, with “Yes” the most popular answer among males and females, all ages over 35, people with kids and without, Republicans and Independents, conservatives and moderates, every level of educational attainment, every income bracket, homeowners, urban, suburban, and rural voters, and voters in all regions of Minnesota. On this aspect, this position is the common ground on immigration in Minnesota.
In February, the NBC Decision Desk/KARE 11/Minnesota Star Tribune Poll asked: “Do you think local police in your community should cooperate with federal immigration authorities to deport people who are in the country illegally?”
…38% of Minnesotans polled say that should “Always cooperate,” 47% say they should “Cooperate in some cases,” and only 15% say they should “Never cooperate.” As Table 1 shows, the total for at least some cooperation between police in their community and federal immigration authorities gets more than 70% support in every single one of the eighteen categories given. Where cooperation finds its least support, among “People of color,” it still polls 73%. This is broadly consistent with the findings of a recent KSTP poll which found that Minnesotans favor local law enforcement helping federal immigration authorities by 14 points.
Our Thinking Minnesota Poll confirms this. We asked: “Do you support or oppose Minnesota state and local officials cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
[ICE] to find and arrest undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes in Minnesota?”
Among respondents, 72% supported this policy while just 26% opposed it. As the NBC Decision Desk/KARE 11/Minnesota Star Tribune Poll found, this support is broad based. The proposal gets “supermajority” support — 66% and over — among seven of our ten subgroups: Republicans (98%), Independents (78%), Men of all ages, women over 55 (75%), and voters in both the MSP Suburbs (74%) and “Rest of State” (79%). Among women aged 18 to 54 and residents of the Twin Cities, support is 62%. Only among Democrats does the proposal find a majority — 52% — opposed.
Putting it all together
The DFL has been casting around for an issue to distract Minnesota’s voters from the epidemic of fraud, slow economic growth, high crime, rising energy bills, increased taxes, and declining schools. The plan seems to be some combination of gun control and immigration, the latter package being launched two weeks before the party’s agenda on “affordability.”
But, as this polling shows, immigration is not abortion. The median Minnesota voter might well lean DFL on that issue, but that does not seem to be the case for immigration, where the party’s plan is to make Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for immigrants, including those with criminal records, is not popular. In March 2024, we found that 59% of respondents opposed “a proposal in the state legislature to make Minnesota a sanctuary state — which would stop local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials and ban state government officials from enforcing immigration laws.” If the DFL choose to fight on this ground, it might not be the cakewalk it thinks.