Scott Jennings Dispels CNN Propaganda While on Their Airwaves, Explains Why ICE Runs Smoothly Outside Minnesota
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings offered a blunt assessment this week of why immigration enforcement proceeds smoothly across most of the country — but consistently descends into turmoil in Minnesota.
Appearing on “The Arena with Kasie Hunt,” Jennings explained that coordination between federal immigration authorities and local officials works effectively in nearly every state. Minnesota, he said, has become a glaring exception due to deliberate resistance from top Democratic leaders who refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement.
Since early January, nearly 3,000 federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have been deployed to Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of an expanded enforcement operation under President Donald J. Trump’s administration. While similar operations nationwide have unfolded with minimal disruption, Minnesota officials have openly defied federal efforts.
Jennings said President Trump’s frustration is understandable given the political obstruction coming from state and local leaders.
“I’d be frustrated too if I were faced with this wall of propaganda every single day. And if I were faced with these recalcitrant Democrats in Minnesota, who simply won’t cooperate with the federal government,” Jennings said when asked about the president’s reaction to developments in the state.
According to Jennings, that refusal to cooperate is the primary driver of disorder — not federal immigration policy itself.
“All over this country, states and cities all over the country, you have cooperation going on between the locals and the federal government. You don’t see any chaos. You see very orderly transitions of illegal aliens into federal custody. They go into deportation. It works just fine,” Jennings added. “The only difference in Minnesota is you have Walz and Frey and Flanagan and the rest of these local Democrats who don’t want to cooperate. They think Minnesota should exist in some state of secession where federal laws don’t apply to people inside the state of Minnesota.”
Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has publicly confirmed that city police would not assist federal immigration agents, stating in a Dec. 7 interview that local law enforcement would refuse to cooperate with the operation. Meanwhile, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz escalated tensions further by urging residents during a livestream to film ICE agents. Walz also accused President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of carrying out an “occupation” of the state, alleging agents were “dragging pregnant women.”
Jennings dismissed those claims as political theatrics that undermine lawful enforcement and create unnecessary instability.
“It is causing chaos, and if I were the president, I would be frustrated about that too,” Jennings said. “Narratives aside, he’s the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, and he has to enforce the law in all 50.”
The Department of Justice has since opened an investigation into whether Walz and Frey obstructed federal law enforcement activities. The probe follows heightened tensions after a federal immigration operation in Minneapolis resulted in the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer on Jan. 7, an incident that sparked anti-ICE protests throughout the city.
As federal authorities continue enforcing immigration law nationwide, Minnesota’s leadership now faces growing scrutiny over whether ideological resistance has crossed into outright defiance of federal authority.