Minnesota Lt Gov Peggy Flanagan praises Dems for voting AGAINST Laken Riley Act

Democratic Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is running for US Senate, criticized the Trump administration’s passage of the Laken Riley Act while speaking at Bernie Sanders’ “Fight Oligarchy” tour stop in the state.

During her remarks, Flanagan noted the first major priority for Trump’s second term was the passing of the Laken Riley Act. She accused the legislation of stripping due process protections for immigrants, allowing the “indefinite detention of adults and children,” and giving ICE “unprecedented power to totally terrorize our communities.”

“I want to be clear: that there is a straight line from the Laken Riley Act vote to what we saw in the streets of our communities,” she claimed.

The Laken Riley Act was named after the Georgia nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been paroled into the United States during the Biden administration. The law requires federal detention for illegal immigrants accused of certain offenses, including theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and crimes resulting in serious bodily injury or death.

Flanagan has repeatedly criticized the legislation throughout her Senate campaign, including using the issue to attack her primary opponent, Representative Angie Craig.

"Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Smith, Congresswoman Omar, McCollum and Morrison, they all voted against it, and my opponent was the only [Democrat] who voted for it," Flanagan said last month. "I appreciate that she regrets the vote, but I also think we are in a time where we deserve leaders who vote their values all of the time."