Bob Rassat is one of many in the small Minnesota town of Buffalo who supports the federal immigration crackdown about 40 miles (65 kilometers) away in the liberal city of Minneapolis.
“The aliens, the illegals are not going to go without a fight,” the 72-year-old retiree who describes himself as ultra-conservative told AFP.
Five American flags tower over Rassat’s home in the sleepy lakeside town of 15,000 people that overwhelmingly backed Donald Trump in the last US presidential election.
Next to his doorstep, a bench with red, white and blue slats is emblazoned with the words “God Bless America.”
Inside his home, two televisions are tuned to Fox News.
Less than an hour’s drive away is Minneapolis, a Democratic stronghold that has become the epicenter of Trump’s immigration operation, dubbed Metro Surge.
The killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in the city last month sparked widespread outrage and protests both in Minnesota and across the nation.
Still, the Trump administration has vowed to continue its mass deportation campaign, which has led to the detention of US citizens, Native Americans and refugees awaiting permanent resident status.
– Send in the army –
Rassat said he feels “bad about” the deaths of the two US citizens and doesn’t “necessarily agree with all the tactics” used by immigration agents, though he said Good and Pretti “brought it on themselves.”
“I’m a staunch believer in the law,” Rassat told AFP.
“If you’re not going to abide by the law, we’re going to turn this back to the old Wild West days.”
He views the deployment of immigration agents as a necessary step to fight illegal immigration, which he considers a legacy of Trump’s predecessor, the Democratic former president Joe Biden.
Sporting a cap and jacket proudly displaying his status as a US Army veteran, 80-year-old Lonny Martin agreed that Good and Pretti, who were shot dead in separate incidents, had “asked for it.”
According to the Republican voter, “Trump should do the Insurrection Act” in Minneapolis.
“Then he can send US Army and Marines and SEALs,” he said, citing the 19th-century law that allows the president to send troops into US cities.
Aside from the president’s eyebrow-raising bid to acquire Greenland, Martin does not “have any problem” with the policies of the New York billionaire.
“I don’t go down there but I think it’s kind of stupid, all the protests,” said Dave, a 65-year-old retired construction worker wearing a baseball cap decorated with an eagle in the colors of the American flag.
“If they would have just let ICE come in and do their job, they would have been gone four weeks ago,” he added, using the acronym for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Asked about the deaths of Good and Pretti, the Trump voter who identifies as an independent replied: “That’s another story…We’ll let the courts decide that.”
– ‘Very red town’ –
On the political spectrum, Lisa, 60, who lives in a small town near Buffalo, also identifies as an independent.
“I don’t support killing people. I don’t support that they’re taking vigilante-type measures and not asking questions before,” she told AFP.
But “if our government (of Minnesota) would have been doing what they were supposed to have been doing, we wouldn’t have had ICE had to come here,” the financial sector worker said.
“This town here is very red. Very,” Sherry, a 78-year-old Democratic voter, said of Buffalo as she referenced the color associated with the Republican Party.
“It’s like it’s hard to drive around and not see something about the man. I hate to even use his name, the orange guy,” she added, referring to Trump.
“ICE, as far as I’m concerned, the only thing they’re doing is a number job.”
“They drag people out, they beat them up, they don’t give a rip as long as they get the number. It’s very painful.”
“Who would have thought even five years ago that this would happen now?” she said.
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