Minnesota GOP Senate Candidate Michele Tafoya Floats Pathway To Citizenship For Illegals
Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya signaled her openness to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants when she pressed Republican amnesty legislation.
During an April 9 appearance on Will Cain’s radio show, the former sportscaster was asked about her position on the DIGNIDAD Act — legislation backed by several Republican lawmakers, including Florida Rep. Maria Salazar and New York Rep. Mike Lawler, who insist it is not an amnesty. Tafoya responded that some parts of a bill might be acceptable, even if she disagrees with others. (RELATED: Senate GOP Bets on Former Sports Broadcaster to Flip Minnesota — Local Republicans Aren’t Buying It)
Tafoya said she would need to see the details of the Dignity Act, telling Cain: “A bill can be really good and you can put a specific thing in it that I wouldn’t agree with.” » She said immigration is a “very nuanced issue.”
“People have come up to me, Will, and asked, ‘What’s your number?’ And I’m like, “What do you mean?” “Well, how many have to leave and how many are you letting in?” And I said, “I don’t think that’s a number I want to set.” »
She went on to discuss conversations with people in favor of stricter limits. “‘No, it has to be a zero-sum game. You kick some out and you don’t let any in.’ And it’s like waiting, waiting, it’s such a more nuanced question.
The Minnesota Senate candidate also discussed conversations with Minnesota farmers who rely on seasonal labor, saying it might be helpful to look for ways to make the system more equitable for seasonal workers entering the United States.
“We have to look at people who have been here for years and years and years. And decide are these people we want to stay here? Do we give them full citizenship? Or do we say ‘yes, you know, there’s a different level of citizenship for different types of people?’ Do they have the right to vote? Do you pay taxes?’ I think anyone who lives here as a person living in our country should be a taxpayer,” she said. (RELATED: Maria Salazar and Brandon Gill reject each other over amnesty bill)
Meanwhile, a group of 18 farm workers — alongside the United Farm Workers of America and the UFW Foundation — filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to challenge a Trump administration rule that they say cuts wages for U.S. farm workers and threatens to expand the H-2A guest worker program.
The plaintiffs argue that the rule harms American workers and expands a program that has already grown significantly, with nearly 400,000 foreign workers participating in 2024, according to a UFW press release.
The Department of Labor’s rule, announced Oct. 2, reduces H-2A wages by about $5 to $7 an hour — a change the administration projects will shift about $2.46 billion a year from workers to employers, the press release said. Critics say the policy could also depress wages for U.S. workers on the same job sites and incentivize employers to hire foreign labor rather than U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
The lawsuit further alleges that the rule was implemented without appropriate public participation, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. A similar effort under the first Trump administration was blocked in court after a judge found it hurt the wages and working conditions of American workers, according to the press release.
Tafoya added during the interview with Cain that several categories must be considered when evaluating legal status and potential pathways to citizenship.
Oh my God.
On the radio, NRSC-backed Michele Tafoya says gas prices are skyrocketing because of the war in Iran she supports and that people should “take one less trip to Starbucks” and “just try to be patriotic” about it.#mnsen pic.twitter.com/GOvkgZTqV7
-Danny (@dabbs346) March 19, 2026
She also raised concerns about screening, arguing that under the Biden administration the large number of migrants made adequate screening difficult. She told Cain that “things were so bad” and the volume was so “massive” that the United States was unable to handle it, making sufficient control “nearly impossible.”
Tafoya cited an example involving relatives of Qasem Soleimani – a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was killed in a US strike in January 2020 – citing reports that his niece and daughter were living lavishly in Los Angeles, suggesting gaps in surveillance.
Cain highlighted improvements made under the Trump administration, but urged Tafoya to take a deeper look at the Dignity Act.
“The hardest part is answering this question: ‘When did you arrive?’ Because it suggests if you’ve been here more than five years and doesn’t apply to the open borders era of the Biden administration. But you never know, that’s the point of being illegal. “How long have you been here?” We don’t know,” he said. (RELATED: Republican Lawmaker Mike Lawler Tries to Resurrect Amnesty Plan)
Tafoya agreed, noting the difficulty of verifying such information, saying: “You don’t know. We don’t know. They don’t know, unless there’s a record of it and as you say, it’s impossible to know.”
For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works.
I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and get the real results Minnesota deserves. pic.twitter.com/vDbHWpAXg9
– Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) January 21, 2026
The former sports broadcaster previously published a 2022 Substack article urging then-former President Donald Trump not to run again, arguing that the GOP needed a candidate “without the baggage.” She has since walked back those comments, but continues to oppose restrictions on abortion.
Her candidacy sparked skepticism from some Minnesota Republicans about her past positions, although she quickly gained support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
The caller reached out to Tafoya for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
