Sparks flew on Capitol Hill as Florida Sen. Ashley Moody confronted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over his record on illegal immigration and his past flirtation with far-left activism, delivering one of the most blistering exchanges of the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
The hearing had already been tense following earlier clashes involving Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, but Moody escalated the pressure by zeroing in on Ellison’s stance toward federal immigration enforcement — and his controversial 2018 social media post posing with the book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.
Critics have long argued the photo signaled sympathy for Antifa, a loose network associated with violent street protests and attacks on police during the unrest of recent years. Moody made clear she sees a direct line between that posture and what she described as Minnesota’s current public safety struggles.
She began with a straightforward question: whether removing illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds from American communities is a good thing. Referencing figures from the Trump administration, Moody said thousands of criminal illegal aliens had been deported from Minnesota alone. When Ellison quibbled over the numbers, she broadened the point — tens of thousands nationwide, she said — and again pressed him for a yes-or-no answer.
Ellison responded by arguing deportations should hinge on serious criminal convictions, sparking a drawn-out exchange in which Moody accused him of promoting a standard that would tie law enforcement’s hands and endanger communities. To the Florida senator, the issue was simple: removing known offenders before they escalate to more serious crimes is basic public safety.
Moody then contrasted Minnesota with her home state. She noted that only a handful of Minnesota counties actively cooperate with federal immigration authorities, while Florida has seen full statewide participation in assisting deportations of criminal illegal immigrants. The difference, she suggested, reflects leadership at the top.
When Ellison declined to directly engage, Moody sharpened her critique. She argued that Minnesota’s crime and law enforcement recruitment challenges stem in part from a lack of visible support for officers. Communities, she said, cannot expect stability if their top legal official appears hostile to cooperation with federal authorities.
That’s when she invoked the Antifa controversy directly. An attorney general photographed promoting literature tied to a movement widely associated with anti-police rhetoric, Moody said, sends a chilling message to officers risking their lives. She framed it as symbolic of a broader disconnect between progressive political activism and the realities faced by rank-and-file law enforcement.
Speaking personally as the spouse of a law enforcement officer, Moody said morale matters. Officers, she argued, need to believe their leaders stand firmly behind them. High vacancy rates and recruitment struggles, in her view, are not accidents but consequences of political choices.
The exchange underscored a widening national divide over immigration enforcement and public safety. For conservatives, the Minnesota example represents what happens when ideology overrides cooperation with federal law. For Ellison and his allies, the fight centers on civil liberties and prosecutorial standards.
But Moody’s message was unmistakable: states that refuse to partner with immigration authorities, she argued, should not be surprised when public confidence erodes. And in a hearing already charged with accusations of corruption and mismanagement, her confrontation added another flashpoint in a growing debate over whether progressive governance is making communities safer — or more vulnerable.
