Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Shouldn't He Be Investigating a Case or Something?
Why yes, there’s a local angle on why the perpetually shocked-looking Kash Patel was downing brewskies in Milan with the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. After the team took home its first gold in 46 years, general manager Bill Guerin, who’s also the Minnesota Wild’s GM, invited the FBI director into the locker room, where he fist pumped like a coked-up day trader, pounded a beer like a frat bro, and joined the guys in a round of Toby Keith’s 9/11 revenge anthem, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).”
As is the way of messy parties, that led to Patel calling Trump, who invited the dudes to the State of the Union Address and offered a trip to the White House where he told them they were “big guys.” But only 20 team members met with the president; Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger, and Kyle Connor, the first four of which have ties to Minnesota, opted to skip out. Wild players Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber, however, were in attendance.
State of the Union: Still Not Good!
Oh, and about last night: President Trump gave a rambling, racist, hour-and-forty-minute State of the Union address, the longest in U.S. history. That’s the perfect length for a movie, not a speech.
During that time, Trump failed to mention Minneapolis or the disastrous Operation Metro Surge, but he did take some time to disparage the Somali-American community, claiming that many arrived via “unrestricted immigration” (they did not). He also overinflated the amount of fraud in Minnesota committed by Somali residents (or anyone else).
At several points, U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) called out “You have killed Americans!,” referring to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of DHS agents. One of her guests, south Minneapolis resident Aliya Rahman, who had been detained by ICE agents during OMS, was arrested again at last night’s event for standing in protest.
Your Wednesday ICE Update
Yep, we’ve retired our daily ICE blotter, hopefully forever, but we all know they’re still here, and Minnesota is still picking up the pieces and dealing with the fallout of a sloppy federal occupation. So, here we are.
- Speaking of fallout, a new study from independent research institute North Star Policy Action estimates the Twin Cities metro area lost between $106-$143.2 million in wages during Operation Metro Surge.
- Three more Minnesota observers/protestors facing federal assault charges have had their cases either withdrawn by the feds or dismissed after the government failed to provide evidence in court.
- How many agents are still in Minnesota following Operation Metro Surge? Last week, the Department of Homeland Security asserted that fewer than 500 remain. Yesterday, ACLU MN revealed that feds, in filed sworn statements, estimate that number to be closer to 970—and that’s on top of the 190 pre-OMS, regional agents working out of the department’s St. Paul office. By March they estimate that number to be closer to 407 (plus that 190 again). None of these numbers add up to less than 500, so are they just lying or bad at math? I suspect the answer is both.
- Lawsuits, media leaks, online learning, and mutual aid: How schools in Fridley and Columbia Heights became models for ICE resistance.
- Trump Treasury official John Hurley exits after apparently objecting to a project "to enhance federal monitoring of international payments from the Minneapolis area" from Somali residents.
Minnesota’s Paid Leave Program Is Working
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reports that Minnesota’s Paid Leave Program, which launched in January, is doing gangbusters, working “ahead of schedule and under budget.”
"The first thing I can report, and you don't get this too often, is the rollout of paid leave came in $70 million under budget," Program Director Greg Norfleet tells Esme Murphy for WCCO. "And the extra money is going back into the pool of money used to pay claims."
According to data covering the last month and a half, around 48,000 applications have been sent in so far, with over 20,000 approved. About 45% of applicants are folks asking for parental leave, while 44% are for personal medical leave. Most rejections have been due to applicants already having insurance coverage or user error.
