Donald Trump drew thousands from all over Minnesota and Wisconsin to a rally in Duluth on Wednesday. They had disparate views of the family separation crisis on the southern border with Mexico but they all agreed on one thing; it wasn’t Trump’s fault.



In recent days, the news that more than 2,300 children of asylum seekers who had entered the United States had been separated from the parents sent shockwaves through American politics. The actions of the Trump Administration in setting a “zero tolerance” policy drew bipartisan rebukes as audio and video of crying children became a constant presence on cable news.

Some attendees, like Mary Reuter of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, said it was all fake news. Reuter – who was disappointed that she shared a last name with a wire service that she described as “very liberal” but was proud of coming from the home town of Sinclair Lewis – said only Fox News “got it right”. Reuter said only 10% of the children separated from their parents “are really families” and she felt it was acceptable to separate them in that case. “If you are a US citizen, you break the law, you go to jail. You don’t get to be with your kids.”

She added: “We got illegals coming with their kids hollering that we are separating them.” In Reuter’s opinion, “most of them are pretty happy, just ship them off with whatever adult wants to take them.”

Reuter thought the executive order was “forced onto Trump”. However, she added “when he makes an order I trust him, he did the right thing.”

Melissa Young of Dodge Center, Minnesota shared the ire at the media. “I wish they had covered it more fairly.” She said “some of the pictures were from previous [years]. It is bad whenever it happens. It was bad back then and it is now.” She blamed the situation on Congress for not doing its job and specifically pointed at Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leaders in the House and the Senate.

Tyler Sterner of Rogers, Minnesota, said “It doesn’t look good, right?” He added: “If you’re criminal and you come across the border which is illegal, your parents committed the crime. You’re a juvenile; your parents did it to you. I don’t think it’s right, eventually they’ll come to a solution.” In his opinion: “ Put them back across the border, that’s what I think, and we shouldn’t be paying for it.”

While Sterner thought Trump could “probably do a little bit more” he believed “you’ve got to pick and choose” and noted that Trump “has done more than any other president”.

Others took different stances. Jack Nylund of Duluth who showed up at the rally dressed like a Viking and holding a fake shield with the phrase “USA Trump” on it, disapproved of the policy. “I don’t know why they are doing that. There’s gotta be a solution to that you don’t separate kids from parents” said the self-described “honest Finlander” who said he was separated from his parents at five and spent much of his youth in “boarding houses”.

However, he supported Trump’s tough stance on immigration. “We can’t afford to support them. That’s the name of the game.” He noted “We can’t afford to take care of our elderly and children and they are flooding the doggone country.”

A supporter takes a selfie from the balcony as Donald Trump departs at the end of a rally in Duluth, Minnesota. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Others simply hadn’t been following it too closely

Alex Kordahl, a junior at North Dakota State who was attending the rally while on summer break in his home town, needed prodding to be aware of the story. He said: “I think it’s just totally wrong man. I think kids should not be separated from their parents.” He looked forward to hearing Trump talking about taking steps to end the practice while noting, “I don’t know too much about it.”

Trump himself skirted the issue. Although he broached his usual rhetoric about the perils posed by mass immigration, he told the crowd it was a distraction by Democrats to hide the crimes of Hillary Clinton and the FBI. “Right now they are building up immigration, they are building up immigration,” said Trump. “They don’t want to show what’s happening in Congress where this scam has been revealed.”

Democrats were skeptical of Trump’s messages. Keith Ellison, a Democratic congressman from Minneapolis who is running for state attorney general thought Trump’s policies did not wear well with many voters in the area. On Tuesday night, Ellison, a candidate for state attorney general, said of Trump’s policies: “People do not like that. People are pro family they believe families belong together. He’s ripping them apart and trying to lie and blame everyone but themselves.”

Ellison added that on his campaign stops in the Iron Range, a blue-collar traditionally Democratic mining area that swung heavily towards Trump in 2016, “people in the range are only one or two generations from being immigrants themselves. The Range of all places in Minnesota is a place of immigration so they remember that, so they are fired up and don’t like the policy.”