EMILY KWONG, HOST:
Minnesotans are making their voices heard on the caucus floor. This week, tens of thousands of voters flooded their precinct caucuses to express their preference for governor and select delegates, and immigration enforcement was top of mind. Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson reports.
DANA FERGUSON, BYLINE: Caucus organizer Andy Dawkins greeted Democratic voters as they walked into a classroom on Tuesday.
ANDY DAWKINS: We're going to run out of chairs. No, it's great.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
DAWKINS: Good turnout.
FERGUSON: And run out, they did. Here, it was standing room only. Around Minnesota, voters filled cafeterias, classrooms and community halls for precinct caucuses. The get-together is where political parties hold straw poll contests in the state's race for governor and weigh in on top issues facing the state. Theresa Baker said she was drawn back to caucuses for the first time since high school over the Trump administration's recent immigration enforcement.
THERESA BAKER: I carry my passport in my car. I was born in St. Paul. It doesn't matter anymore. And so I have to care. I have to care. So this is what's kind of kickstarting, I've got to give a damn.
FERGUSON: Minnesota's Democratic Party reports more than 30,000 people turned out for their meetings around the state, close to the turnout they'd see in a presidential election year. Amino Warsame lives in one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis. Warsame is Somali American.
AMINO WARSAME: Yeah, nobody feels safe right now, even citizens. I'm a citizen. I've never felt this insecure and, say, uncertain in my life. And now we have ICE, you know, walking through the neighborhood, just terrorizing.
FERGUSON: She said President Trump's comments about Somali people have been harmful. They strengthened her resolve to vote for Democrats.
WARSAME: I still agree with Republicans on some issues - right? - and some values. But now whatever, you know, those values are, whatever those issues are, doesn't include me.
FERGUSON: On the flip side, Republican voter Lisa Burth saw Democrats as the problem in the immigration debate. She caucused in northwest Minnesota.
LISA BURTH: What's going on right now in Minnesota? People are getting injured and killed, and, you know, the people that are rioting have been told that it's OK by the governor.
FERGUSON: Kimberly McDonald, at the same caucus, says people need to respect law enforcement. And she has doubts about the people protesting ICE actions in the Twin Cities.
KIMBERLY MCDONALD: Then I'm hearing about these paid protesters that's in Minnesota and stuff and, you know, getting in police face, you know, harassing police and ICE agents, and it just - that's not normal.
FERGUSON: Not all Republican voters agreed with the Trump administration's surge in Minnesota. Ian Johnson caucused with Republicans about an hour south of the Twin Cities.
IAN JOHNSON: There are people that come to the country, and they're not legally here, and maybe they commit crimes, but I think what we've seen is we've - we're just kind of using this as lumping people together, in a sense, to drive people apart.
FERGUSON: Ann Van Ryn, an 84-year-old, caucused for the first time. She said she's fed up with President Trump and his immigration actions in Minnesota. She wants her party, the Democrats, to get in Trump's way.
ANN VAN RYN: I think they could be doing more. I wish they would step up more.
FERGUSON: From here, party leaders will analyze voter turnout and voters' feedback for clues of what might be ahead in this midterm election year.
For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson in St. Paul, Minnesota.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
