The far-right House Freedom Caucus is calling on the Trump administration to amp up its violence in Minnesota.
Trump and senior officials on his team have faced widespread public outrage in response to abuses of power by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol deployed to the state.
In a letter sent to Trump on Tuesday, the Freedom Caucus Board of Directors complains—without evidence—about a “lawless, organized group of Marxists” who are purportedly undermining law enforcement. The Freedom Caucus alleges that these so-called Marxists are in the process of making it “impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States.”
“The coordinated effort to stop law enforcement by politicians in Minnesota and around the country has caused chaos, and led to the tragic deaths of two Americans in Minnesota. It must end,” the letter goes on to say.
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in Minneapolis on Jan. 26.
Minnesota residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal immigration agents, not Democratic politicians or protesters opposed to Trump’s racist anti-immigrant policies.
The Freedom Caucus letter calls for maintaining the current federal deployment in Minnesota and asks Trump to further escalate tensions by invoking the Insurrection Act. That law has previously been invoked during periods of civil unrest, allowing federal forces to preserve the peace and protect the public. But the Freedom Caucus letter ignores the reality that the current unrest has been provoked by the administration.
The caucus threatens that if congressional Democrats continue to support legislation that would restrict funding for ICE operations, the caucus intends to support changing the Senate filibuster rules, passing an emergency reconciliation bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and would back Trump in circumventing congressional approval to spend funds.
To be clear, the so-called Freedom Caucus has previously billed itself as defending the traditional constitutional process, but now it seeks to squelch dissent, circumvent Congress, and give the president (at least a Republican one) the power of the purse.
The letter comes at a pivotal moment, with Trump receiving pressure on multiple fronts to change course from his unpopular actions. Minnesotans and millions of other Americans have made clear that ICE’s actions are not acceptable. Sentiment against the operation in multiple cities has grown more unpopular as the weeks have gone on and calls to entirely abolish ICE have been increasing.
Even the media outlets owned by right-wing media baron Rupert Murdoch, including Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, have begun pressuring Trump to pull back on his crusade.
House Republicans have very little room to maneuver due to a series of deaths and retirements that continue to reduce the size of the Republican majority. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson will likely need Freedom Caucus backing to continue funding his deportation program, while Democrats largely refuse to go along.
Trump will have to decide whether he will bow to bipartisan public pressure or ultimately give in to factions like the Freedom Caucus, who may represent his fringe base but are far out of touch with where most Americans are.
