Angry Democrats in Minnesota are demanding $200 million in taxpayer reparations because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have prevented businesses in the city of Minneapolis from being able to hire low-wage illegal aliens. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated that he believes residents of the city shouldn’t have to pay for the situation that he claims was created by the federal government.
“The city’s very financial stability has been called into question because of the actions of the federal government,” City Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher whined at a February 13 press conference, according to a report from Breitbart News. The source of the “cost” is due to city officials purposefully using low-skilled, hardly working legal and illegal migrants to help stimulate economic growth in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis has also created a set of “Sanctuary City” rules designed to provide protection for the low-productivity, welfare-boosted economy built from restaurants, retail stores, and rent from American families who are losing their wealth, housing, and even their wages. When President Donald Trump started enforcing immigration law, sending ICE agents out to find criminal illegal aliens and deport them out of the country, the economy essentially had its throat slashed, thus the harsh backlash from liberals who want to protect an economy built on Sanctuary City policies.
According to Breitbart, when ICE rolled into town and started cleaning the streets, illegals started skipping work and hiding out in their homes to avoid being caught and deported. Many restaurants and other businesses reduced their services as American employees were forced to take on additional hours and receive overtime pay. Companies lost revenue, which led to a reduction in the amount of tax payments received by the city.
ICE agents arrested well over 4,000 illegals, which cost landlords a fortune in rent payments. The report goes on to note that as the immigration enforcement operations continue, the free market system will apply pressure to CEOs to provide American workers with higher wages, while simultaneously forcing landlords to reduce costs for American renters.
However, Democrats are now demanding that American taxpayers pick up the tab for the damages that their own policies caused by using the cheap labor provided by illegals as the backbone of their Sanctuary City Economy. Mayor Frey put out a statement detailing how the city is suffering because of federal law enforcement doing their job, without making any distinction between Americans, legal immigrants, and illegal aliens.
“76,000 people are in need of urgent relief and assistance. We’ve seen at least $203 million in economic impact in just January alone. We were seeing somewhere between $10 and $20 million worth of losses to small and local businesses per week. Small businesses have collectively lost more than $80 million in revenue. Hotel losses exceed $5 million and more than 75,000 additional people are experiencing some form of food insecurity. Thousands of school-age children are in need of services. This is not even an exhaustive list… our focus must now be on moving forward and making sure that our neighbors and businesses have our support,” Frey said.
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Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is also demanding federal tax dollars as repayment for the mess he and his administration helped create. Frey went on to say he believes the federal government needs to provide financial assistance, along with the state, as Minneapolis is a major economic engine for Minnesota, revealing that the city sends $3 to the state for every $1 it receives. “I’m not too naive to think that we’re going to go to the state and federal legislatures and get the entire amount,” he added.
On February 5, 2026, the city council voted in favor of spending a million dollars to help out 250 families to pay their rent and also voted to spend another $500,000 to provide legal services for immigrants. The council is also set to take a vote on spending an additional $5 million to help small businesses due to a large number of immigrant-owned businesses closing down or scaling back hours because people were staying away from establishments.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video