One year out from the Laken Riley Act’s passage, Democratic Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig is trying to distance herself from her vote in favor of the bill.
Craig, a four-term lawmaker running for Minnesota’s open 2026 Senate race, is veering sharply to the left in an effort to win a bruising Democratic primary. Though Craig was one of 46 Democrats who voted in January 2025 for the Laken Riley Act — legislation that helped lay the groundwork for Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown — the Senate hopeful now would rather not discuss it.
When asked by the Daily Caller News Foundation whether she would vote differently on the Laken Riley Act today, Craig dodged the question.
“The Laken Riley Act isn’t being used by the administration. They are violating every law in the book,” Craig said in a brief interview. “Tell me one time they’ve used it.”
More than 17,500 illegal migrants have been detained under the Laken Riley Act, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in December.
The law, named in honor of a 22-year-old University of Georgia college student murdered by a Venezuelan national living illegally in the United States, mandates the detention of illegal migrants who have been accused or charged with certain crimes. Riley’s killer had been previously arrested for shoplifting but was released prior to the murder.
Craig in June 2025 also broke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to vote for a GOP-authored resolution, which in part expressed “gratitude” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The measure — opposed by a majority of House Democrats — also condemned an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
Now, Craig appears to see those votes as a political liability.
Democratic Minnesota Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan, an unabashed progressive who is running to Craig’s left in the Democratic primary, repeatedly slammed the lawmaker’s votes for the Laken Riley Act and the pro-ICE resolution.
When Flanagan argued at a recent campaign event that Craig’s votes have facilitated authoritarianism, the crowd responded with boos and chants of “shame” at the Minnesota lawmaker.
“Our immigrant neighbors deserve better,” Flanagan, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s deputy, added in a reference to illegal aliens.
Asked to respond to Flanagan’s criticism, Craig declined to put a label on her political identity.
“I’ve always been hard to define as a member of Congress in my votes and I don’t think I’m very definable now,” Craig said. “I always listen to my constituents, and that’s what I’ll continue to do for the people of Minnesota.”
Craig, who represents a light blue district outside of Minneapolis — which former Vice President Kamala Harris won by six percentage points in 2024 — previously emphasized her “moderate” credentials before her Senate run.
She was among a handful of Democrats who supported a resolution in January 2024 excoriating the Biden administration’s “open border” policies and condemning senior administration officials, including Harris, for failing to stem the crisis.
Craig also took a victory lap in June 2024 after former President Joe Biden took executive actions aimed at securing the southern border following her pleading.
In a September 2024 Facebook post, she highlighted her travel to the U.S.-Mexico border with a group of Republicans in February 2023 and stated her support for giving “additional resources” to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“We only make progress when we work together,” Craig said, referring to bipartisanship.
Those appeals toward the center appeared to juice Craig’s standing in her swing district and she comfortably defeated her GOP opponent by 13 points in November 2024 despite an environment broadly favorable for Republicans.
“I really believe that voters want someone who has a moderate, centrist voting record,” Crag told the Minneapolis-based MinnPost following her reelection victory.
Following the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents, Craig has appeared to pivot to the left on immigration policy.
The Senate hopeful has championed DHS secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment and has vowed not to give “a single cent to Trump’s ICE.” She has also called on DHS to shut down despite the sprawling agency overseeing vital entities, including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Craig joined nearly all Democrats in voting against a DHS appropriations bill Thursday, citing her opposition to funding ICE and CBP absent reform to the agencies.
“The Senate must hold the line,” Craig wrote in a Monday post to X. “Not another penny to Trump’s DHS.”
Republicans are eager to criticize Craig’s departure from her once-described “centrist” brand ahead of the Senate contest’s August 2026 primary.
“Angie Craig has gone full-blown, far-left looney tunes in an attempt to out-lib her opponent and appease the radicals in her party,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the highest-ranking Minnesota Republican, told the DCNF in a statement. “There’s only one explanation for her flip-flop from voting for the Laken Riley Act last year to now calling for ICE to be defunded: Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Emmer and Minnesota’s Republican delegation notably issued a press release Thursday thanking Craig for her vote in support of the Laken Riley Act.
Craig’s newly combative stance on immigration enforcement risks backfiring in a general election setting. Though most Americans believe ICE’s tactics have gone too far, surveys show that voters trust Republicans more than Democrats to handle immigration.
Though Minnesota tends to favor Democratic candidates at the federal level, Republicans are hopeful that another six months of infighting between Craig and Flanagan could weaken the party’s general election nominee.
Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya’s entrance to the race also puts the seat in play for Republicans and will likely force Democrats to shore up the seat vacated by Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, who is retiring.
Democrats must successfully defend the seat — in addition to Georgia and Michigan — to have a viable shot of retaking control during November’s midterm elections.
Caden Olson contributed to this report.
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