A top Republican candidate for Minnesota governor has dropped out of the race, sharply criticizing what he called a “federal retribution on the citizens of our state” amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement operations – which sparked public outrage after US agents’ killings ofAlex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
On Monday, the Minneapolis-based attorney Chris Madel made his announcement, saying in a video online: “I cannot support the … stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”
Donald Trump, like Madel, is a Republican. Madel expressed support for federal immigration agents’ purported original aim of deporting undocumented immigrants involved in major criminal activity.
But he said Operation Metro Surge had “expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats”.
“United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear,” Madel said, referring to the immigration enforcement operation, in which roughly 3,000 federal agents have been deployed in and around Minneapolis since December, reportedly carrying out thousands of arrests.