Walz backs $10M aid package for Minnesota small businesses hurt by ICE surge
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday he’ll back an aid package to support state businesses, especially immigrant-owned business, hurt by the surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota over the past two months.
Walz told reporters he’ll propose a $10 million emergency fund, similar to an effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, that would offer forgivable loans targeted at small businesses.
The upcoming legislative session, he added, “needs to be about the recovery of the damage” caused by the immigration surge. He called on the federal government “to pay for what they broke here” but added that he wasn’t “holding his breath” for federal help.
Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic that this surge of untrained, aggressive federal agents are going to leave Minnesota” after hearing remarks earlier Thursday from White House border czar Tom Homan.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Walz, though, added that the surge “left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions.”
The federal government brought some 3,000 agents into the state over the past two months, largely in the Twin Cities. The governor said he expected a return to the normal contingent of agents in the state, about 150, by the middle of next week.
He also said he still expected that the investigations into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by immigration agents will continue despite the surge’s end.
The federal government has said it’s opened a civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing and will also cooperate with state investigators on a joint probe of the shooting.
Local prosecutors have also said they’ll review for any possible state charges. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement later in the day that the end of the surge will not affect her office’s ongoing investigations.
“It’s going to be a long road,” Walz said of the process to move forward following the surge. “But Minnesotans are decent, caring loving neighbors and they are also some of the toughest damn people you’ll ever find, and were in this for as long as it takes.”
This story is part of our live coverage. Go to live updates.
