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WATCH: Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha, State Legislators Detail Economic Devastation from ICE Operations

By March 6, 2026No Comments

Auditor Blaha: “Just like the brutal directions of ICE targeted our most vulnerable neighbors, the economic attacks have hit the most vulnerable parts of our economy.”


WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha, State Senator Liz Boldon, and Representative Brad Tabke participated in a press call to detail the severe economic damage inflicted on communities statewide as a result of Donald Trump’s ICE operations. ICE’s unconstitutional tactics, warrantless home invasions, roving patrols, and violence against residents have devastated local economies, as workers and customers fear leaving their homes. As a result of ICE’s presence in the city, some Minneapolis businesses have reported sales drops of 80%.

 

The speakers highlighted how the Trump administration is prioritizing their extreme mass deportation agenda over the economic concerns voters actually care about, outlining how ICE’s tactics are terrorizing their constituents while simultaneously undermining the state’s economy.

 

“[The ICE surge] is still affecting us and will be affecting us for quite some time. The effects are far beyond Minneapolis, far beyond the metro, even. It is permeating the economy of our entire state,” said Auditor Julie Blaha. “Just like the brutal directions of ICE targeted our most vulnerable neighbors, the economic attacks have hit the most vulnerable parts of our economy. We’ve seen the direct costs of ICE action mostly hitting our local units of government.”

 

“The effects of this are ongoing. What is happening is not over here,” said Senator Liz Boldon. “This is an ongoing issue, and the impacts of this, even if all of the federal agents leave, even if things are sort of restored to ‘normal,’ the impacts of the trauma and the damage and the harm that has already happened, we are going to be dealing with for a very long time.”

 

“We have a business downtown that went from over $2,000 a day in sales, and then since ICE came into our community, they are lucky if they make $200 in a day,”  said Representative Brad Tabke. “This is just unsustainable for our economy, for our businesses. We have a lot of amazing things going on here in our community, a ton of construction happening, a lot of really wonderful things, but most of that has ground to halt.”

 

A recording of the press call is available here and Auditor Blaha’s letter to President Trump on this issue is available here.

 

BACKGROUND

 

  • BY THE NUMBERS: Trump’s ICE operations have cost Minnesota hundreds of millions of dollars and hurt working Minnesotans:
  • Minnesotans are paying thousands more due to Trump’s tariffs. Minnesota residents are facing high prices due to Trump’s economic policies. Contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, 96 percent of the burden of Trump’s tariffs is borne by U.S. importers and consumers. New data shows that Minnesota importers paid billions in tariff bills in 2025, with the cost of Trump’s tariffs running around $2.7 billion. In the first year of Trump’s second term, Minnesotans paid an average of $1,608 more in goods and services. Trump’s tariffs have cost Minnesota households an average of $719 so far. A plurality of Minnesotans (47%) say the economy has gotten worse since Trump took office, and nearly two-thirds of Americans say Trump has not gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods. In January, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 – even worse than at any point during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The Trump administration has halted critical health care funding Minnesota providers and patients rely on. The Trump administration has halted Medicaid funding for Minnesota, jeopardizing health care coverage that nearly 1.2 million Minnesotans rely on and throwing Minnesota hospitals into turmoil. Medicaid is the single largest source of health insurance in Minnesota; cutting off funding deprives providers across the state of stable, needed revenue and disproportionately hurts rural areas that are already struggling to manage provider shortages and budget gaps. Minnesota is suing the federal government to resume Medicaid payments.
  • Minnesota health care costs are already up thanks to Trump & Republicans: The Trump-GOP Big, Ugly Bill cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). An estimated 153,000 Minnesotans will lose their health care because of Trump and Republicans’ deep health care cuts, which could cause hundreds of avoidable deaths per year.
    • Minnesota hospitals are estimated to lose $441 million a year due to Medicaid cuts alone. The state recently received a rural health care grant from the Trump administration, but it falls far short of covering the $155 billion that rural areas are projected to lose from the Trump-GOP cuts, and leaves Minnesota hospitals scrambling to come up with the remaining two-thirds of the lost funding that isn’t covered by the rural health grant. According to Protect Our Care’s Hospital Crisis Watch, 26 Minnesota hospitals and clinics are closing, have already announced cuts, or are at risk of closure in the wake of the Trump-GOP bill.
    • The Trump-GOP plan to rip away ACA tax credits will hit Minnesota’s small businesses especially hard. At least 29,200 small business owners in the state rely on the ACA for coverage – nearly 1 in 5 Minnesota ACA enrollees. 87 percent of small business owners reportedly wanted Congress to permanently extend ACA tax credits.
  • Minnesota energy costs are skyrocketing. Since Trump took office in January, residential electric bills are up over 17 percent nationwide, meaning the cost of household utilities is rising nearly five times faster than inflation overall. Locally, Climate Power estimates that electricity bills in Minnesota are rising by around $141 annually, and Minnesota already ranks 36th in energy affordability in the country.
  • Trump is threatening jobs and energy investments in Minnesota: Trump has threatened over $1 billion in Minnesota energy investments, cancelling, delaying, and forcing layoffs at three energy-related projects and leading to hundreds of jobs threatened or lost.
  • Trump is ripping help away from Minnesotans. Trump’s budget cuts are ripping away vital assistance for health care, food, and more from hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans. 
    • Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own through the Affordable Care Act are facing an average premium increase of 23 percent for 2026. Nearly 100,000 people across the state are seeing their coverage costs double on average this year. ACA plan enrollment saw an 8% drop in Minnesota for 2026 after Trump and the GOP ripped away tax credits.
    • Trump and Republicans in Congress cut $187 billion in food assistance, which helps give 440,000 Minnesotans access to food. These cuts leave an estimated 32,000 Minnesota families at immediate risk of losing their food aid and will leave Minnesota without nearly $292 million in annual federal funds – a 32 percent reduction.

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