This is the third story in a three-part series about where Montana’s candidates for federal office stand on issues of importance to voters. Montana Free Press has also published pieces about candidates’ plans to address affordability, which Montanans ranked as the No. 1 issue influencing their vote in November, and how candidates would tackle healthcare, which about 3 in 5 Montanans said is very important in helping them decide who to vote for.

Montana voters have strong opinions about immigration enforcement, according to Montana Free Press-Eagleton polling conducted in late August and early September. 

In the poll, 74% of Montanans said they had strong feelings about ICE’s job performance in the state. Forty percent said they strongly approved, and 34% said they strongly disapproved. 

In an earlier poll, conducted in late December and early January, 82% of Montanans reported strong feelings about the issue. Fifty percent said they strongly approved, and 32% said they strongly disapproved.

Protesters have voiced opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy at rallies in Montana communities in April 2025, June 2025 and March 2026. 

Eleven Montana candidates are running in two 2026 races for U.S. House and one race for U.S. Senate. We asked all of them the same question: 

What changes would you support making to immigration and border-security policy? Please be specific about the laws, programs or enforcement actions you support. Explain how you will fund these actions and identify evidence that will demonstrate they are working. 

For the sake of fairness and equal time, we asked the candidates to limit their responses to 300 words. Their answers have not been edited. 

U.S. SENATE

KURT ALME, REPUBLICAN
Kurt Alme

Let’s be clear: President Biden and the Democrats’ open-border policies were a disaster that left our country vulnerable.

Millions of illegal aliens entered our country, including cartel and gang members, drug traffickers, and violent criminals. The open border crisis made every state less safe. Like Georgia, where Jose Ibarra kidnapped and brutally murdered Laken Riley. Ibarra was an illegal alien who had been released into America during the Biden administration and then was arrested and released by New York City — a sanctuary city.  And we’ve seen law enforcement apprehend criminal illegal aliens right here in Montana.

The flood of illegal aliens also accounted for 30% of the increase in housing costs under President Biden.

My liberal opponents will take us back to the days of those destructive Biden Democrat open border policies. Securing our border is common sense and President Trump has done it.

As Montana’s U.S. Attorney, our office helped secure the border by prosecuting criminal illegal aliens, violent criminals, and going after drug trafficking gangs all the way up to the cartels. Last year in Montana, we prosecuted more criminals than in any year in the last 20 years and reduced violent crime! That’s why I am endorsed by 35 Montana Sheriffs across our state. That’s my record.

We need to keep our borders secure, prioritize prosecuting and deporting criminal illegal aliens, and stop funding sanctuary cities which leave dangerous illegal aliens like Jose Ibarra on our streets. Also, we must stop giving tens of billions of federal benefits to illegal aliens every year, since it encourages more illegal immigration.

As Senator, I have the experience to make our communities safer, and I’ll deliver results.

KYLE AUSTIN, LIBERTARIAN
Kyle Austin

I support a lawful, humane, expedited immigration system that strengthens border security while expanding legal pathways and protecting due process in a humane way. Congress should modernize asylum law by requiring initial screenings within 7 days, providing government-funded counsel for unaccompanied children, and setting a 30-day goal for final decisions. I would add immigration judges, asylum officers, and support staff, while preserving judicial independence and meaningful appeals.

At the border, I support completing the southern border wall, sustained staffing for Customs and Border Protection, modern inspection technology at ports of entry, mobile surveillance in remote areas, and infrastructure chosen through risk assessments. Enforcement should prioritize smugglers, drug and sex traffickers, repeat offenders, and people who pose verified public-safety threats. We need to put American jobs first; I do not agree with Governor Gianforte’s recent decision to visit India and replace good Montana jobs with HBA 1 Visas. Our Governor has failed Montana and as a future leader of our state, I am highly disappointed in him selling us out.

I would fund these actions through appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, by consolidating duplicative contracts and increasing visa fees at the expense of those coming into our country to fund our border security, not the taxpayer. Success should be measured publicly through quarterly data: unlawful-crossing attempts, repeat-crossing rates, drug trafficking interdictions at ports, asylum case-processing times, court backlogs, detention costs, visa overstay rates, employment-verification error rates, and the share of legal immigrants filling documented shortages. Independent audits should verify the results and civil-rights compliance.

ALANI BANKHEAD, DEMOCRAT
Alani Bankhead

I spent my career in federal law enforcement, working alongside the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. Strong borders and a Constitution that protects everyone are not opposites.

Secure the border where the threat actually is. About 90% of seized fentanyl comes through legal ports of entry, and most traffickers are U.S. citizens. I’d fund scanning technology and staffing at the ports and focus enforcement on traffickers, smugglers, cartels and violent criminals.

Fix legal immigration. 11.6 million people are stuck in the backlog, and doing it the legal way can cost $10,000 or more. I’d fund the hiring to clear the backlog and cut the fees and red tape that punish people for following the rules.

Shut ICE down and build its replacement from scratch. ICE has been on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list since it was created in 2003, and in 2018 nineteen of its own senior investigators asked to split it in two. Congress created ICE by statute and can rebuild it by statute, into whatever structure an honest, independent review recommends.

Protect due process. Move the immigration courts out of the Justice Department into an independent Article I court, require a judicial warrant or a judge’s danger finding before detention, end family detention, and keep active-duty troops out of immigration enforcement.

How we pay for it: about 7 in 10 people in ICE detention have no criminal conviction. Shifting that detention money to port inspection, backlog judges and anti-cartel investigations funds most of this without new spending. A Senator controls this through DHS appropriations.

How we’ll know it’s working: more fentanyl seized at the ports, wait times and fees for legal immigration coming down, and detention focused on people who are actually dangerous, with independent reviews of deaths and unlawful detentions in custody.

SETH BODNAR, INDEPENDENT
Seth Bodnar

I’ve had events in every corner of Montana, and I say to the folks in the room, ‘I’m about to make three statements about immigration, and if you agree, raise your hand.’ They are:

1) We must have strong borders and enforce our immigration policies; 2) we must do that without allowing a masked, unaccountable paramilitary force to trample the individual liberties of American citizens and ignoring due process rights; and 3) we need comprehensive immigration reform that makes it clearer how people can come to the United States legally.

In every room, close to everybody has raised their hand. I think if you gave most people in Washington truth serum, they’d raise their hands too.

The problem with our immigration system is not that we don’t know how to solve the problems we face. The problem is we have politicians in DC who know what the solutions are, but choose to use immigration as a partisan issue to fight about instead of an issue that is their responsibility to solve.

As Montana’s Independent senator, I’ll never play politics with our border. I’ll work to empower law enforcement to deport people who came here illegally and committed crimes and to shut down the cartel networks moving fentanyl into Montana towns. I’ll support real, operational control of the border, which means resources for enforcement technology, personnel, and infrastructure that actually prevents illegal crossing. I’ll immediately start working with members of both parties who are serious about comprehensive reform to fix the system so it works for Montana’s ranches, farms, or hospitals. And I’ll fight every day to ensure the due process and constitutional rights for every American citizen are always protected, period.

A secure border and a constitutional country aren’t in conflict. Montanans know that, even when Washington pretends otherwise.

U.S. HOUSE, WESTERN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

AARON FLINT, REPUBLICAN
Aaron Flint

First off, thank you to our federal and local law enforcement officers in Montana. They put their lives on the line to keep our families safe, and my first priority would be making sure they have the support and resources to do their jobs.

That means giving Border Patrol and ICE the personnel and equipment to secure our borders, including our northern border, and deport illegal immigrants from Montana, starting with those convicted of violent crimes and drug trafficking. Enforcing our immigration laws also eases demand for housing and pressure on healthcare services, lowering costs for working Montanans.

Getting that done requires our sheriffs and local police to work with federal immigration officers. When ICE issues a lawful detainer for someone already in custody, officers should be able to hold that person for transfer to federal custody.

My opponent lobbied against that cooperation. He opposed Montana bills requiring officers to honor immigration detainers and banning sanctuary city policies. He even lobbied against tougher penalties for drug dealers whose drugs kill people. I will back our officers and give them the tools to hold those who poison our communities accountable.

I would fund these priorities through congressional appropriations, using border security and enforcement dollars already approved through the Working Families Tax Cut. Securing our borders is Washington’s responsibility, and local taxpayers should not be left footing the bill for federal enforcement partnerships.

Success means no illegal crossings and all criminal aliens deported. We need to keep up the pressure until every illegal immigrant is deported from Montana. We can never go back to the failed immigration policies of the Biden administration that put our communities at risk and skyrocketed prices.

SAM FORSTAG, DEMOCRAT
Sam Forstag

Our immigration system is fundamentally broken, and the fact that we’ve gone decades without comprehensive immigration reform is a failure of leadership from both parties. We need a positive vision for how we fix our immigration system so that it actually helps working people, protects our basic constitutional rights, and makes sure that there is accountability and oversight for immigration agents, just like any other public employee.

I’ll work with people in both parties — just like I’m doing in this campaign with 5 Republican legislators and a former Republican governor’s support — to stop kicking the can down the road and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform. That should include expanding pathways to legal status so that people who want to come to this country in pursuit of the American Dream have a realistic and legal path to doing so and expanding immigration courts and making them independent so claims can be processed in months instead of years.

I’ll also work to restructure and reform immigration enforcement to make sure that it focuses on violent criminals rather than the cruel and chaotic approach that we’ve seen recently. We can make sure that violent criminals aren’t here illegally without putting communities at risk and imperiling the constitutional freedoms that make this country great. That has to include common sense reforms like banning face masks for immigration agents, requiring body cameras and badges, requiring judicial warrants for searches, and ending illegal surveillance that uses our cell phone data without a warrant.

We can still solve big problems as a country. We have to. We do that by cutting through the sort of empty rhetoric of my opponent that leaves us paying more for worse outcomes and coming together as a country around the common sense reforms we can agree on.

NICK SHEEDY, LIBERTARIAN
Nick Sheedy

Sheedy did not respond to MTFP’s question. MTFP was unable to locate a public stance by the candidate regarding the issue. 

U.S. HOUSE, EASTERN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

TROY DOWNING, REPUBLICAN
Troy Downing

Downing did not respond to MTFP’s question. In September, when Downing sponsored a bill that would deny U.S. Housing and Urban Development funding to “sanctuary cities,” he discussed the issue in a press statement.

If a sanctuary city is not complying with federal law, we should not allocate American taxpayers’ hard-earned money to those areas. The American taxpayer should not be responsible for funding cities that choose to disregard federal immigration policy while law-abiding citizens are left to bear the cost.

MICHAEL EISENHAUER, INDEPENDENT
Michael Eisenhauer

As an Independent Congressman, I support an immigration system that secures the border, enforces the law, protects legitimate asylum claims, and provides legal immigration pathways that serve America’s (and Montana’s) economic needs. Do not deport law-abiding ‘Dreamers’.

Secure the border and ports of entry. Fully fund CBP staffing, surveillance technology, drug detection, and targeted physical barriers where they are operationally effective. Prioritize fentanyl, weapons, human trafficking, and national-security threats. Congress should require measurable and independently-audited performance standards. Measured Success: GAO has already identified weaknesses in performance — document improvement and faster approval of legal immigration applicants. Improve training and tighten supervision; hold leaders accountable.

Require employment verification. Phase in mandatory E-Verify nationwide while protecting employers from penalties when they properly use the system. Reduce the economic incentive for unauthorized immigration and protect American workers from unlawful employment practices. Measured Success: Improved compliance with existing regulations and laws.

Fix immigration courts. Hire more immigration judges, court staff, prosecutors, and improve technology to resolve cases quickly and fairly. The immigration-court backlog is exorbitant. Increase utilization of remote hearings to reduce travel and administrative costs. Measured Success:  Reduce backlog, reduce length of incarceration prior to potential deportation. Close private prisons that are not needed.

Strengthen legal immigration. Reform employment-based and temporary-worker visa programs to address documented workforce shortages in agriculture, healthcare, construction, and other industries while requiring worker protections and employer verification. Measured Success: monitor employer participation and sponsorship rates.

Enforce final removal orders. Prioritize those convicted of serious violent crimes, terrorism-related offenses and serious drug offenses, while ensuring due process. Improve CBP-ICE information sharing. Fund this through existing or increased immigration fees, eliminate wasteful detention spending (shorter stays, etc.) and redirect resources where needed.  Measured Success: GAO found gaps in parole monitoring… fix it.  Reduce the number of contracted detention facilities.

PATRICK McCRACKEN, LIBERTARIAN
Patrick McCracken

You cannot long exist as a nation with free immigration and a welfare state. Corporate, banking, and global interests, and the politicians they pay for, treat America as an economic zone instead of a nation with a shared history, culture, and border. Cheap labor means bigger profit margins, which would be fine if it was just business. But the American taxpayer picks up the bill for the additional strain on hospitals, schools, and public works. The American taxpayer is subsidizing its own wage suppression and paying for benefits they often don’t receive themselves.

At the 2025 peak, 53 million people living here were foreign born, about 1 in 6 residents and the highest share in our history. Roughly 14 million had no permanent legal status and 8 million of those, seven times Montana’s population, were here illegally. We are a nation of immigrants, yes, but also a nation of laws, customs, shared history and language. Without time to assimilate, a continued stream of newcomers will remake our society, as Western Europe is currently learning.

Libertarians believe in free association, but it cannot be a one-way street. Immigrants cannot impose undue costs on Americans who have paid, for generations, to be here. There must be some border, some sane policy.

As your Representative, I will work with any member of Congress to pass legislation removing everyone here illegally under existing law. I will support ending the H1-B program which corporations have abused to undercut American workers. I will introduce a bill to pause all immigration for five years, except spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens, giving time to remove those here illegally, assimilate newcomers and build a sane system.

I oppose amnesty, and I worry it is the uniparty’s plan on behalf of corporate interest.

BRIAN MILLER, DEMOCRAT
Brian Miller

The Trump administration’s immigration policy has had one success, which is the creation of a secure border. We need to maintain a secure border. A nation cannot survive when it has porous and open borders. We need to know who is coming in and out of our country. What I would support if elected to Congress is taking border patrol agents and putting them on the borders, not having them roam the streets and cities of the United States of America randomly killing people. We should use a combination of electronic and drone surveillance with increased troop power to make sure that we maintain a well-regulated border. 

Secondarily, we need to deal with the problem of people who have entered this country unlawfully. First, we need to target those persons who are suspected of real criminal offenses, not traffic violations, but real criminal offenses. Those persons need to be targeted and removed. Beyond that, we need to figure out how to deal with people who have entered unlawfully, but who are otherwise law-abiding and contributing to society. I would like Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to make contact with any person who is here unlawfully but who otherwise is not an active criminal threat to the safety of our nation. Those persons should be notified that ICE is aware of them and placed on a probationary status with regular check-ins with appropriate authorities. However, these people should not be detained or removed so long as they remain law-abiding and are contributing to society. 

Finally, we need to have 21st century immigration reform. In 1986, Ronald Reagan passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act. This allowed 2.7 million undocumented persons to become US citizens. We need to have a pathway for people who are a part of our American society and are contributing to our economy and our way of life to become full citizens. Congress needs to work out those details in an open and transparent fashion. We need more immigration judges and a more efficient system. We will know that this system is working when we have a handle on people who have come into our country with bad intentions and can stop them while those who are contributing can do so in a lawful way, contributing to our tax base and the economic activity of America. The details of that system must be left up to Congress in consultation with business leaders and members of American society.

Nora Mabie contributed reporting. 

Zolnikov called it “absurd” that some Republicans are supporting Tidswell, a write-in candidate, instead of himself, the Republican nominee. He said it boiled down to his own opposition to certain Republican candidates earlier this year. “Because they have been involved in progressive dollars and supporting primary people against known Republicans,” Zolnikov said. “And I called them out for it. I said Republicans don’t use Democrat dollars.”

John Adams, who founded Montana Free Press a decade ago working out of his pickup, announced on Tuesday that he will step down as CEO of the nonprofit organization.

In addition to casting votes for three-quarters of the state’s congressional delegation, an open state Supreme Court seat, two Public Service Commissioners and legislative candidates, Montanans will also weigh in on three ballot measures in the upcoming election. This year, Montana voters will determine via initiative the future of nonpartisan state courts, corporate spending in politics and the ballot measure process itself.