‘Canada is not Minnesota’: Canadian Minister makes big claim on immigration, opens up on US immigration raids weeks after Good and Pretti’s killing; here’s what he said

A Canadian minister has reacted to the US immigration crackdown by federal forces in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two residents, saying that he will not express his opinion on another country’s immigration linked processes. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree voiced his concern and defended Canada’s respect for the law when removing people from the country under the provisions of immigration.

In an interview earlier this week, Anandasangaree said, “What I would say is that Canada is not Minnesota,” as quoted by The Canadian Press.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Customs and Border Protection carried out intensive operations in Minnesota in January 2026. The operations sparked massive protests and widespread outrage. It escalated further following the fatal shooting of Minneapolis residents Renée Good and Alex Pretti.


“I think my responsibility is not to opine on other countries’ processes but, more importantly, to ensure that our process is in line with Charter values, is in line with the rule of law, and is in line with due process.”

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The Canadian minister said that Ottawa removed more than 22,000 people in 2025 “in a compassionate and humane manner” while adhering to due process “every step of the way,” according to The Canadian Press.

Good and Pretti’s killing

In January 2026 two residents of Minnesota's Minneapolis, which has become the epicentre of the immigration policy backlash, were killed by ICE agents. Good was shot to death in her car on January 7, 2026, by an ICE officer, and Pretti was killed at a demonstration on January 24, 2026, by Customs and Border Protection officers.

Anandasangaree was quick to dismiss the notion that Canadian security agencies might be sharing less intelligence with their US counterparts these days because of the widely criticized tactics of Washington.

“It’s certainly true that Canada and the United States are going through a difficult patch in our long history, one that is being addressed by our prime minister,” he was quoted by The Canadian Press as saying.