Headshot of Minnesota Reformer reporter, Madison McVan

Madison McVan

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Madison McVan is a reporter at the Minnesota Reformer, covering the impact of the Trump administration on Minnesotans, including issues like immigration, agriculture, Medicaid, food, housing and other safety net cuts. She's also covering the 2026 Minnesota U.S. Senate race. Prior to joining the Reformer, she wrote about labor and environmental issues in the agriculture industry for Investigate Midwest. She moved to the Twin Cities in 2020 after graduating from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and Latin American studies. She's bilingual.

Appleton area could lose more than $800,000 per year in revenue following government prison purchase
Minnesota

Appleton area could lose more than $800,000 per year in revenue following government prison purchase

Aug 20, 2026
Madison McVan
APPLETON — The federal government’s purchase of a 1,600-bed prison in Appleton for an immigrant detention facility could deal a major blow to city, county and school finances. The prison had been owned and operated by CoreCivic since 1996 until...
Independent ICE flight tracker marks 5000th detainee deported from MSP
Minnesota

Independent ICE flight tracker marks 5,000th detainee flown out of MSP

Aug 19, 2026
Madison McVan
On the hot tarmac of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, a man in a gray sweatsuit slowly climbed the steps to board an Eastern Airlines flight bound first for Alexandria, Louisiana, then El Paso, Texas. He was chained...
AG Keith Ellison sues Texas governor for failure to extradite ICE agent charged with assault
Minnesota

AG Keith Ellison sues Texas governor for failure to extradite ICE agent charged with assault

Aug 18, 2026
Madison McVan
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, alleging that Abbott is holding up the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with assault in the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis on Jan...
Union members, activists defiant in the face of federal surveillance
Minnesota

Union members, activists defiant in the face of federal surveillance

Aug 18, 2026
Madison McVan
Unions, progressive organizations and churches that were the subjects of a wide-ranging surveillance operation by the Department of Homeland Security are presenting a unified message: We will not be intimidated. The leaders spoke at a press conference Tuesday morning alongside...
Federal judge tosses out DOJ lawsuit seeking Minnesota voter data
Minnesota

Federal judge tosses out DOJ lawsuit seeking Minnesota voter data

Aug 17, 2026
Madison McVan
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking Minnesota voter rolls. The Department of Justice is now 0-23 in its effort to obtain voter information maintained by the states. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Minnesota Secretary...
Documents show how feds spied on protesters, left-wing organizations and unions during Metro Surge
Minnesota

Documents show how feds spied on protesters, left-wing organizations and unions during Metro Surge

Aug 13, 2026
Madison McVan
Homeland Security investigators secretly recorded conversations, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records for labor unions and progressive groups as part of a wide-ranging surveillance effort during Operation Metro Surge, according to court documents filed Thursday morning. The documents, first...
Most incumbent lawmakers fend off primary challengers
Minnesota

Most incumbent lawmakers fend off primary challengers

Aug 12, 2026
Madison McVan
Most of the sitting Minnesota lawmakers who faced intra-party challengers won their primary elections Tuesday. Only one incumbent lawmaker was unseated: Sen. Paul Utke, R-Park Rapids, who lost by fewer than 200 votes to Rep. Mike Wiener, who had earned...
Matt Little wins DFL primary in CD2, will face Eric Pratt in general election
Minnesota

Matt Little wins DFL primary in CD2, will face Eric Pratt in general election

Aug 11, 2026
Madison McVan
Matt Little won the Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, winning a three-way race to face Republican state Sen. Eric Pratt in the November general election. Little beat state Sen. Matt Klein, a Mayo Clinic doctor who sought centrist...
What Minnesota 2026 primary voters are saying at the polls
Minnesota

What Minnesota 2026 primary voters are saying at the polls

Aug 11, 2026
J. Patrick Coolican Brian Martucci Ella Stern Madison McVan Atra Mohamed Ria Gupta
This article will be updated throughout the day with additional voter interviews. A record number of Minnesotans — more than 240,000, by early Tuesday, according to the secretary of state — have already voted, which could propel Minnesota to a...
Rep. Ilhan Omar raises questions about undercover ICE agent at town hall
Minnesota

Rep. Ilhan Omar raises questions about undercover ICE agent at town hall

Aug 10, 2026
Madison McVan
An undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent parked outside a community center while Rep. Ilhan Omar held a town hall on Aug. 6, the Democratic Congresswoman wrote in a letter to Department of Homeland Security leadership in St. Paul. According to...
During Operation Metro Surge, ICE arrested dozens of immigrant crime victims
Minnesota

During Operation Metro Surge, ICE arrested dozens of immigrant crime victims

Aug 07, 2026
Madison McVan
Years ago, Rosa watched from inside the car as men robbed her husband at gunpoint, shortly after they’d arrived in Minnesota from Guatemala. The couple had a pending asylum case, but once they reported the crime to the police, they...
ICE, CoreCivic to open Appleton immigrant detention center this year
Minnesota

ICE, CoreCivic to open Appleton immigrant detention center this year

Aug 04, 2026
Madison McVan
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will pay private prison company CoreCivic more than half a billion dollars for a defunct 1,600-bed prison in rural western Minnesota and turn it into an immigrant detention center. CoreCivic, which will operate the facility...