MINNESOTA — The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association is launching a $2 million advertising effort criticizing Representative Angie Craig for votes on immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump's second term. The campaign comes ahead of Minnesota's Senate primary on August 11, in which Craig is competing against Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan to succeed retiring Senator Tina Smith.

The ad references Liam Ramos, a child whose detention by federal immigration agents became emblematic of the administration's enforcement efforts, and is narrated by Mary Granlund, a member of the local school board who said she was present when Ramos was taken into custody. "I was there. There were armed agents, masks on, guns. He's not a criminal. He's five," Granlund said. "I begged them to stop. They locked him up in a Texas detention center. Who takes a child?"

The ad cites Craig's support for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration detention measure Trump signed into law shortly after taking office last year. "She voted to give ICE the power to abduct and indefinitely detain parents and kids like Liam. And then she voted to thank them. How could we possibly trust Angie Craig?" Granlund said.

Kevin Holst, executive director of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, said Craig's reversal on the Laken Riley Act was an act of political expediency. "This is a defining primary, because we have seen across the country voters are so sick of people who go to D.C. and go along to get along. And they're looking for experienced people who are morally centered and grounded in the work that they're doing," he said. "She had over a year to say that she was wrong for this."

In early March, Craig wrote that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority was the wrong decision. "It is true that the president is not using any laws to carry out these sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans, but it's also become clear that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision," she wrote.

Following the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, known as Operation Metro Surge, she introduced articles of impeachment against then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She also announced legislation to strip new funding ICE received in the GOP's tax cut and spending measure known as Trump's "big beautiful bill."

Craig voted for a resolution that included a line expressing gratitude to law enforcement officers, including ICE personnel, for protecting the homeland. That resolution was largely about condemning an antisemitic attack in Colorado. "You make difficult choices on these Republican gotcha bills every single day when you're serving. And so I would ask, would the lieutenant governor have voted against a resolution to condemn antisemitism?" she said.

Holst said the majority of the Democratic caucus opposed the resolution. "You can stand against antisemitism eight days of the week without voting to thank ICE for their work across the country," he said.