The Economic Policy Institute’s EARN conference is always a highlight of my year. The convening last week was particularly special, since it coincided with EPI’s 40th Anniversary.
Minnesota took center stage in a panel discussion IRI helped organize, after the huge spike in ICE arrests in the winter of ’26, and the visceral outpouring of opposition from Minnesotans. Local protesters turned outrage to deeper protest, rather than retreat, after three people were shot by ICE agents and two of them killed, Renée Good and Alex Pretti. The widespread revulsion helped change the narrative about mass deportations.
IRI always takes as many of our staff members to the EARN conference as we can, since a big part of our work is the State Immigration Project, which is built on our relationships with the EARN and State Priorities Partnership groups.
This year all four of us were in Washington, DC, and Shamier Settle did a great job on the panel that she and Ant Capote helped organize.
What pushed ICE back in Minnesota was the unflagging opposition of local people and organizations. But, in times like these, research has a role to play, too.
One of the central themes of the Trump administration has been the misguided notion that U.S.-born workers will gain from mass deportation. The panel showed the reality: immigration helps grow the economy, and mass deportation hurts us all.
Ben Zipperer of EPI talked about a great report he authored on how in fact a deportation agenda destroys jobs.
Shamier from IRI and Carly Eckstrom from the Minnesota Budget Project talked about the joint report we put out last year predicting that the Trump deportation agenda would hurt the Minnesota economy and tax base. (That report is part of a series from IRI with state partners.) Shamier and Carly also talked about an upcoming joint report that quantifies just how serious the job loss was when ICE occupied the city. Jake Schwitzer, from the Minnesota-based North Star Policy Action, talked about some smart early analysis North Star did to show the scale of economic impact, including this report put out as early as February of 2026.
Another highlight for me was the closing plenary, which Valerie Wilson of EPI put together—with an assist from Shamier—looking at the threats to data coming from this federal administration. What I took away is how, when we don’t have accurate data, policy can become completely untethered to reality. If the government cuts SNAP benefits, for example, and then stops measuring child poverty…how will we even know how devastating the impact is, or fight back against those who say there isn’t one?
The Economic Analysis Research Network, or EARN, brings together independent state-based think tanks in almost every state plus DC, as well as national organizations like Immigration Research Initiative. EPI provides invaluable analysis and support to the state groups, establishes a high standard of rigorous attention to detail across the network, and convenes the EARN conference once a year as an opportunity for us to learn from each other.
This link shows details about the 40th anniversary. The celebration already happened, but it’s not too late to use the link to see who was there, and to contribute to EPI!