26. January 2026 – THE FLENSBURG FILES

This was a post that was made on Sunday, one day after the shooting death of Alex Pretti in broad daylight in Minneapolis. This is from Indivisible Minnesota and it features an update and a look at the demands to stop ICE:

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Late last night, Pam Bondi sent a letter saying DHS would only leave Minnesota if the state agreed to three demands.

Let’s take each demand on its own.

First: turn over Minnesota’s Medicaid and SNAP data.

Bondi presents this as a fraud investigation. Federal agencies already have established, lawful ways to audit and investigate federal benefit programs. They do this in every state, every year. They can request records through intergovernmental channels, issue subpoenas, and pursue cases in federal court.

None of those processes require a large-scale deployment of federal agents into local communities.

If DOJ sought this data, it could have pursued it through those mechanisms. Instead, routine bureaucratic cooperation is now being presented as a condition after the fact, following a federal surge that has already occurred.

It is also worth stating plainly: the governor cannot unilaterally change state law.
Minnesota’s policies exist because they were enacted through the legislature and established legal processes. Altering them requires legislative action, public debate, and lawful authority — not a letter and not a threat.

Unlike this administration, Minnesota plays by the rules.

Second: repeal “sanctuary” policies and require full cooperation with ICE detention and enforcement.

This is not a procedural request. It would require Minnesota to substantially alter how state and local systems interact with federal immigration enforcement.

There is substantial evidence that such policies affect community trust:
– Immigrant residents become less likely to report crimes.
– Families are separated through detainer practices.
– Workers become more vulnerable to exploitation because fear keeps them silent.

It also matters which system Minnesota is being asked to support.

The federal immigration detention system has a long-documented record of harm. Deaths in custody are a matter of public record. Oversight bodies and courts have repeatedly identified serious deficiencies in medical care. Children have been separated from parents and held in federal custody for extended periods as part of enforcement operations.

That same system has operated in Minnesota under circumstances that have raised grave concern. Two Minnesotans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — died following encounters with federal agents. In both cases, state and local officials have stated publicly that federal authorities did not fully cooperate with investigative efforts, including limits on access to evidence and scenes.

Those facts are directly relevant. Cooperation depends on mutual accountability. When federal agencies restrict state investigations into deaths involving their own personnel, it reasonably affects confidence in requests for expanded cooperation.

Third: hand over Minnesota’s voter rolls.

This demand is unrelated to immigration enforcement, public safety, or benefits administration.

Minnesota administers its elections under state law. There has been no judicial finding of widespread voter fraud or discriminatory practices that would compel federal access to or control over state voter registration systems.

Minnesota is also known for something else.

It is consistently the highest-voting state in the country. High participation. High trust. Elections run competently, locally, and transparently by Minnesotans.

So when federal officials condition the withdrawal of federal agents on access to Minnesota’s voter rolls — absent a demonstrated legal necessity — it does not read as neutral oversight.

It reads as a bid for power.

There is additional context that informs how these demands are received.

The lead federal prosecutor handling major fraud cases in Minnesota resigned after disagreements with the Justice Department’s handling of the Renee Good investigation. Multiple career prosecutors left the U.S. Attorney’s Office amid internal disputes over investigative priorities related to that death. An FBI agent involved in the case also resigned after being directed not to pursue further investigation into the killing.

Career prosecutors and agents do not resign lightly. Taken together, these departures indicate serious internal concern about how federal authority was being exercised.

Put it all together:

One demand concerns data that could have been sought through ordinary legal channels.
One would deepen participation in a detention and enforcement system with documented harms and unresolved accountability failures.
One directly intrudes on state control of elections while being unrelated to the stated enforcement purpose.

None of these demands required flooding Minnesota communities with federal agents in the first place.
None resolve the accountability failures already exposed.
And none clearly improve public safety.

Minnesota has faced pressure like this before.

When Virginia asked for the return of its Civil War battle flag — captured by the First Minnesota Regiment at Gettysburg — Minnesota’s answer was no.

We had paid the price and it was now part of our legacy.

Today’s asks also ask us to ignore who we are as a state, to Ignore the abuses of our citizens, to sacrifice our neighbors.

The answer is no.