Thursday, July 23, 2026

A group of like-minded people here to support one another and uphold our values of inclusion, equity, honesty, accountability, social, and climate justice.

THOUGHTS

ELECTION SECURITY

A new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) shows that Minnesota’s voter registration system is in excellent shape heading into the elections:

99.9% Accuracy: Counties properly verified the identities of 99.9% of all registration applicants.
On-Time Processing: 96% of counties processed applications within state-mandated timeframes, though 3,800 applications were flagged as late.

Recommendations: The OLA proposed changes to state law to address processing gaps.

The Reaction

The Political Divide: Democrats focused on the stellar 99.9% accuracy rate, while Republicans emphasized the 0.1% verification and 4% gaps. The Secretary of State Steve Simon and Clean Elections Minnesota contended the OLA’s finding of high accuracy proves that our election safeguards work and our system is trustworthy. Both support the OLA's legislative recommendations and will continue to strengthen our elections and stay #1.

MEDICARE FRAUD

Top 5 States for Fraud-Pattern Flags: California, Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey

Top 5 states: 220 of 500 flagged providers (44.0%). The remaining 45 states + territories share 280 flags. Yet, Medicare dollars are being withheld only from Minnesota.

Data Sources

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data (2014-2023)
• CMS National Health Expenditure Data

Note: All data is from publicly available Medicare records. OpenMedicare is an independent journalism project not affiliated with CMS.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

WCI Connections

Annandale, Buffalo, Delano, Monticello, St. Michael-Albertville

See below for details

Saturdays, Emmer Do Better Rally, Otsego

July 25, 11:00-noon

Saturdays, Defend Democracy Rally, Albertville Mall

July 25, 10:00-11:00

Mondays, Buffalo Weekly Protest

July 27, 4:30-5:30

Wednesdays, Sherburne County Detention Vigil

July 29, 3:30-4:15

Defeat Tom Emmer Virtual Training

July 23, 6:00-7:30

MN 15 Legal Fund Benefit

August 1, 8:00-10:00

Tuesday, WCI Summer Picnic

August 4, 4:30-7:00

Wright County Immigrant Aid Fundraiser

August 20, 6:00-9:00

Note: If you use GMAIL be sure to scroll to the bottom of the newsletter by clicking

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ACTION

CONTACT YOUR SENATORS

Amy Klobuchar: (202) 224-3244 klobuchar.senate.gov

Tina Smith (202) 224-5641 smith.senate.gov

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote. The SAVE Act just passed by the House would create significant barriers to the voting process; many eligible voters do not have easy access to the necessary documents. It is critical that you reject the SAVE Act and protect the right of every eligible citizen to vote.

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Tom Emmer (202) 225-2331; (763) 241-6848 emmer.house.gov

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

Roughly 6.6% of the average metro’s home-price increase can be attributed to the immigration surge, not a 30% rise you stated. FactCheck.org attributes recent home-price increases primarily to mortgage rates and a long-standing housing supply shortage. Will you acknowledge the truth to your constituents?
The 10 largest American oil and gas corporations made $677 billion in pre-tax profits between 2021 and 2025. They spent $452 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and another $2.75 billion compensating their top executives. Several paid effective federal income tax rates that were in the single digits or below zero. The federal tax code continues to reward them with billions of dollars in special subsidies.The End Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies Act, H.R. 383, would eliminate nearly a dozen of these giveaways and stop major oil corporations from exploiting special accounting rules. What are you doing to pass this legislation and move it out of committee?

WEEKLY TO-DOs

Request a Ballot Online or Vote Early In-Person

Early voting in-person starts this Friday, July 24th. Voting early is the smart way to make sure your vote will count. This election is too important to wait until the last day to cast your ballot.

To find out where you can vote, or request an absentee ballot to vote by mail, go to the Minnesota Secretary of State website

Download and print this ACLU Minnesota Know Your Rights At The Polls card

Write a Comment Opposing Outrageous Fees To Become Citizens

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed increasing naturalization fees by at least 75% and eliminating fee waivers, creating more barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen. The rule change would make it significantly harder for low-income people to become citizens.

August 24 is the deadline to submit comments, but please take action now to keep the path to citizenship open to eligible immigrants. Submit comments about the DHS proposal here.

GET OUT THE VOTE: YOUR MOVE FOR THE BLUE

WCI members and friends, get ready to be part of the “Blue Wave.”

Here is a link to this week's Campaign Volunteer Calendar, which includes information about the candidates AND opportunities to DO THE WORK to create the Blue Wave. This information is also sent out weekly on Tuesdays, but we will also link it here to be sure you can find it when you have some time to step up.

Choose your action. Show up. Let’s do this.

JOIN US TONIGHT, JULY 23, FOR OUR

“DEFEAT TOM EMMER” VIRTUAL TRAINING

6:00-7:30 PM ON GOOGLE MEET!

The previous training was a huge success and highly recommended!

Don’t miss this important training!

🌊 A profile of our wonderful 6th Congressional District

🌊 Busting myths about the most effective ways to reach out to voters, and how

we’re doing things differently this year than we have in the past

🌊 The types of voters we’re reaching out to in order to WIN this year

🌊 Ways that you can help, no matter where you live!

We’ll also be hearing from a panel of volunteers who have already been working diligently across the district to elect Doug Chapin for Congress and other incredible candidates up and down the ballot!

This is your chance to ask questions, connect with other volunteers, and learn a little bit more about what it’s going to take from now until November to TURN CD6 BLUE!

EVENTS

EMMER MUST GO

OTSEGO RALLIES

11:00-Noon

PLEASE JOIN US!!!

9201 Quaday Ave NE, Otsego.

Meet on Parrish Ave.

Park at the Otsego Dental Office or the Wyndham hotel.

DEFEND DEMOCRACY

ALBERTVILLE MALL RALLIES

Join us July 18, 2026

10:00-11:00

PLEASE JOIN US!!!

BUFFALO WEEKLY PROTEST!

Join our group of like-minded folks who want our democracy and rights!

July 20

Mondays, 4:30-5:30

101 1st Avenue South

(downtown across from the splash pad on 25, on the lake side

Bring a sign, a friend, a flag!

SHERBURNE COUNTY GOVERNMENT VIGIL

Over 100 immigrants are in Detention at the Sherburne County Government .. Center. Consider joining us!

Every Wednesday 3:30 – 4:15 Sidewalk next to Business Center Drive
Sherburne County Government Center

13880 Business Ctr Dr NW, Elk River, MN 55330

The Wright County jail is making space to hold 120 folks who have been incarcerated at the Sherburne County Jail. Because Sherburne is boarding detainees for ICE, they need more room. So, they are sending their non-ICE related arrests to WC because they make more money off of ICE detainees. Botton line: Wright County is making money off of ICE detainees as well because we are boarding for Sherburne County.

Buffalo:

Buffalo Coffee Chat

Second Tuesday of the month

10:00 AM

New Buffalo Community Center

114 Commerce Circle (new location)

Contacts: Jane Dorn: 763.300.5130

Laurie Stammer: 320.762.6703

Annandale:

Every third Thursday

Pleasant Vista Bistro

Pleasant Vista Senior Living Community

700 Park Street E, Annandale

Zane Schaeffer-320.282.9741

Monticello:

Wednesday, July 29th, 3:00-5:00

New location for July:

Boulder Tap House

40 Chelsea Road, Monticello

Roger Hedtke - 612.483.5748

St. Michael & Albertville

Every third Thursday, 6:30 pm

569 Sycamore Circle

St. Michael

Christy Petit - 952.353.0665

Delano:

Lani’s Coffee and Conversation

Fourth Thursday of the month, 1-3

Rockford Township Hall

Lani BrownWorley - 612.709.5399

The event is scheduled from 8:00-10:00 PM. at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. Tickets may be purchased at

on Eventbrite or via The Cedar Cultural Center Event Page

Join WCI Members and Friends in our Community!

Hamburgers, chips, cake, water provided - Please bring a dish to share.

Candidates are invited to mingle with members and give a 2 minute intro.

Picnic RSVP

Join Wright County Immigrant Aid’s first ever Paint 'n Sip fundraiser event! Follow along step-by-step as we create a beautiful, Minnesota-themed painting that you can show off to all your friends and family. Never painted before? No worries! I will be with you every step of the way. Prefer to paint your own thing instead? Feel free! The paint and canvas are yours to do with as you wish.

All experience levels are welcome! Materials are provided, so all you have to bring is your fabulous self.

AND MORE!

DONATIONS

REMEMBER OUR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

UPDATED list of donations

Food items needed: meseca (corn flour), cooking oil,

Seasonings: salt, pepper, oregano, ground or whole cumin,

garlic powder, bay leaves

Other food items include canned chicken, spam, pork, sardines, tuna, corn tomato sauce, diced tomato, jalapenos, menduo, hominy, mixed vegetables, sweetened condensed milk, Dulce De Leche, Crema De Coco.