On Monday Night’s 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, the MS NOW host downplayed the presence of illegal immigrants in Minnesota and claimed the Trump administration was only undertaking operations in the state because of its blue voting record.
Ruhle, also, did not mention Minneapolis’s sanctuary city policies that prevent ICE and other federal authorities from detaining and starting the deportation process of illegal immigrants who had committed crimes in the US.
Ignoring how ICE and other DHS authorities surged into Minnesota in response to the ongoing fraud crisis in the state, Ruhle ended her opening monologue by wondering why the State of Minnesota was seeing all the operations, while using some statistics to downplay six figures as a small number:
But I just want to level set for a moment. I want to think again about why the administration is committing this massive surge of agents into the State of Minnesota in the first place, because this state does not have a surge or a huge population of undocumented immigrants.
According to a Pew estimate in 2023, Minnesota has about 130,000 undocumented immigrants. They make up about 2.2 percent of the state's population. But let's compare that, I don't know, compare it to Texas, which has over 2 million undocumented immigrants. There they make up 6.6 percent of the population.
Ruhle finished her monologue by using the voting record of Texas versus Minnesota as the main reason for operations: “Of course, there's another key difference between the two. Minnesota voted against Donald Trump three times, and Texas voted for Donald Trump three times. Is that a coincidence? You can decide.”
Later on in the show, in a discussion about how business leaders should respond to the shooting of Alex Pretti, Ruhle made the same point:
When Bill Ackman, in the last 24 hours, tried to point the finger. Why is this happening in Minnesota? Why? Because there's a surge of agents being sent there, while there's not a surge of migrants moving there - at least not compared to states like Texas and Florida that resoundingly vote for Donald Trump.”
Ruhle minimized the situation with illegal immigrants in Minnesota by comparing the state with Texas, a state with higher number of immigrants because they have the biggest border crossing point between Mexico and the United States. It was also the Biden administration’s primary dumping ground for them.
A key factor in how the administration was picking which states to dedicate finite resources; Texas also had high cooperation with ICE and other immigration authorities, leading to more arrests. Ruhle’s point didn't talk about cooperation, and makes it seem Texas had little immigration enforcement.
Her statements showcased how the media inflamed tensions over immigration enforcement and how their comments constantly minimized the high amount of illegal immigrants in the country after four years of an open border.
The transcript is blow. Click to expand:
MS NOW’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
January 26, 2026
11:03:23 PM Eastern
(...)
STEPHANIE RUHLE: And the legal battles in Minnesota continue to ramp up. Today, a judge heard arguments in the state's lawsuit to force ICE to leave. She has not issued a ruling yet.
But I just want to level set for a moment. I want to think again about why the administration is committing this massive surge of agents into the state of Minnesota in the first place, because this state does not have a surge or a huge population of undocumented immigrants. According to a Pew estimate in 2023, Minnesota has about 130,000 undocumented immigrants. They make up about 2.2 percent of the state's population. But let's compare that, I don't know. Compare it to Texas, which has over 2 million undocumented immigrants. There they make up 6.6 percent of the population. Of course, there's another key difference between the two. Minnesota voted against Donald Trump three times, and Texas voted for Donald Trump three times. Is that a coincidence? You can decide.
(...)
11:40:24 PM Eastern
RUHLE: Do not hold your breath, Bill, waiting around for hedge fund managers. When Bill Ackman, in the last 24 hours, tried to point the finger. Why is this happening in Minnesota? Why. Because there's a surge of agents being sent there, while there's not a surge of migrants moving there, at least not compared to states like Texas and Florida that resoundingly vote for Donald Trump.
(...)
