Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was loudly booed during his State of the State address after criticizing President Trump for deporting accused MS-13 gang leader Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other illegal immigrants suspected of terrorism and gang ties.
Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s 2024 running mate, accused Trump of “tearing up the values that once made America the shining light of the world.” The audience at the Capitol had clearly heard enough by the time he invoked Abrego Garcia’s name.
“In this land of the free and home of the brave,” Walz said, “we have university students being swept up, shoved into unmarked vans, and fathers being tossed into Salvadoran gulags without a hint of due process.” That line was met with a chorus of boos from lawmakers and attendees alike.
The crowd’s reaction appeared to intensify when Walz attempted to turn the moment into a lesson about “freedom,” stating, “If you say you love freedom, but you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom — it’s privilege.”
His comments came days after Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen made headlines by traveling to El Salvador to personally visit Abrego Garcia, a man described by Democrats as a “Maryland father” but who U.S. officials identify as a violent gang leader and trafficker.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the administration’s position crystal clear. “The administration maintains the position that this individual — who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning — was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang. That is fact number one,” Leavitt said. “Fact number two, we also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. And fact number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang — which this president has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
The Department of Homeland Security has backed up that statement, confirming that two different judges found Abrego Garcia to be a member of MS-13. DHS added that when he was arrested, Abrego Garcia was found carrying rolls of cash and drugs, and wearing gang insignia.
But Walz wasn’t just defending Abrego Garcia. He also referenced the ICE detentions of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist arrested for allegedly aiding Hamas-linked protest activity at Columbia University, and Rümeysa Oztürk, a Tufts University student also detained for similar alleged ties.
Critics quickly pointed out that Walz made no mention of the victims of MS-13, including Rachel Morin — the Maryland mother of five who was raped and murdered in 2023 by another illegal alien with MS-13 ties — nor did he reference the ongoing efforts by Trump’s Department of Homeland Security to protect Americans from foreign-born violent offenders.
The speech appears to have badly misfired for the Minnesota governor. His line about “freedom for everyone” was meant as an applause moment — but ended up being drowned out by boos instead.
While the Supreme Court has ruled that the administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, the White House made clear it has no intention of bringing him back. “We cannot force El Salvador to return an individual they are detaining under their own laws,” the deputy chief of staff said.
It’s not the first time Walz has found himself at odds with voters for appearing more concerned with foreign criminals than public safety. But this time, the blowback was immediate — and deafening.
