Olson on Newsmax: Why MN Is Pushing Back So Hard On ICE Operations

Byline: Olson Strategies Staff

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Dustin Olson, Managing Partner at Olson Strategies, joined John Bachman Now on Newsmax with guest host Andrew Craft to discuss the challenges facing ICE agents as they carry out federal immigration enforcement, the lack of cooperation from local officials, and what Olson argues is a broader political motivation behind the resistance.

The Complicated Position ICE Agents Are Forced Into

Olson was asked about the difficult and often dangerous posture ICE agents must maintain while conducting enforcement operations, particularly when local leaders oppose federal law. He pointed to a lack of coordination with local law enforcement as a core issue driving these tensions:

"This is the problem with not having coordination with local law enforcement—having local leaders who are opposing the enforcement of federal law. These are the tragic consequences."

When asked about Kamala Harris’s criticism of ICE, Olson argued that the current situation is the result of years of failed border policy, placing responsibility squarely on the Biden administration “throwing open the border”.

"To speak of our former border czar, Kamala Harris, she's ultimately responsible for this situation, and they don't look at themselves when they threw open the border and allowed millions upon millions, somewhere between 10 and 20 million people to come into our country and to break the law and to cause so many problems."

Restoring Border Integrity Takes a Monumental Effort

According to Olson, the scale of the border crisis means restoring order is neither quick nor easy, even with recent progress:

"To restore integrity to our immigration system and to our border takes a monumental effort, and it's pretty remarkable what's already been accomplished, but more is going to have to be done, especially when you have these local officials pushing back against enforcing the law."

Political Power and Census Incentives

Olson then pointed to what he sees as the root cause to the reaction we are seeing and the political incentive behind resistance to immigration enforcement in blue states and cities:

"Blue states and blue cities benefit by having illegal immigrants within their geography, because the census counts them, and then that determines congressional representation. So for them, it is about political power."

Minnesota Fraud and a Push for Distraction

Olson argued that the backlash against ICE enforcement may be additionally heightened in Minnesota because it serves another purpose altogether, deflecting attention from recent revelations of what looks like an unprecedented level of large-scale fraud, either involving political leaders in the state, or benefitting from their blind eye:

"What we're seeing here is political leaders, Walz, Mayor Frey, Keith Ellison, all of these people either were complicit or turned a blind eye or were possibly involved in the rampant and unbelievable fraud."

Olson concluded that the broader controversy surrounding immigration enforcement may be a deliberate attempt to divert attention away from what he described as a historic  scandal:

"I think most of what we're seeing—trying to spoil for this fight—is to distract away from what is really an unprecedented level of fraud."

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