Montana

Immigration takes center stage in contested Montana US Senate race

Published

1 year ago

June 25, 2024

Immigration takes center stage in contested Montana US Senate race

(The Center Square) – Montana has one of the longest shares of the U.S. border with Canada of any state. However, it’s the other border – nearly 1,000 miles away – that is becoming a flashpoint in the state’s ongoing U.S. Senate race.

Montana’s U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is up for re-election this year, with Tester running against Republican nominee Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and aerial firefighter. Sheehy has consistently attacked Tester on immigration and border security – seeking to paint him as an enabler of President Joe Biden’s record on illegal immigration from Mexico – forcing Tester to defend his record.

“What’s happening at the southern border is an absolute crisis, and it gets worse each day under the Biden administration and with career politicians like Jon Tester who talk a tough game about border security but aren’t getting the job done,” Sheehy writes on his campaign website. “The result of an open southern border is more crime and drugs flooding into our country and into our Montana communities.”

Since the Biden administration took office, over 7.9 million foreign nationals have illegally crossed the U.S. border with Mexico, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, a figure that only includes those apprehended by law enforcement and not those who successfully sneak in between ports of entry. Many of these foreign nationals can remain in the country after submitting applications for asylum, which can take years to process.

“Jon Tester has worked hand in glove with Joe Biden to aid the invasion taking place at our southern border,” Sheehy wrote in a news release attacking Tester for voting to dismiss impeachment charges against Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Sheehy has promised to support the construction of a physical wall along the southern border – a longtime policy goal of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – as well as end federal authorities’ relocation flights to distribute migrants around the country.

Sheehy’s focus on the border reflects a larger strategy for Republican Senate candidates in battleground states across the country, who have emphasized the issue. In April, a campaign arm of the Senate Republican Conference announced it would spend $15 million attacking Tester on immigration this election, according to Politico.

Tester, for his part, has played up the contrast between himself and Biden on this issue.

“I’ve stood up to Biden by demanding action to secure our border and protect Montana’s way of life,” Tester wrote on Twitter, now known as X, on June 9. Tester has also touted his support of a bipartisan border security bill introduced in the Senate in February and, again, in May, which Republicans voted against.

“We had one of the toughest border bills on the Senate floor we’ve ever had and Republicans killed it because they wanted to give my opponent a campaign issue,” Tester tweeted. Addressing his opponent directly, he wrote: “Tim – you didn’t even read the damn bill before you said you opposed it!”

Critics of the Senate bill Tester supports, however, said it would expand and codify the discretionary authority of Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas when it comes to border-related issues. Using such discretionary authority, Mayorkas unilaterally changed laws established by Congress, including creating over a dozen parole programs, which House Republicans said are illegal and cited when they impeached him in February.

This year, Tester joined Republicans in Congress to support conservative immigration legislation – an unusual move for a Senate Democrat. Chief among these is the Laken Riley Act, a bill named for a Georgia graduate student allegedly killed by a foreign national in the country illegally, which passed the House in March and which Tester co-sponsored in the Senate.

Montana is regarded as a heavily conservative state with a Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) score of R+11, indicating a Republican lean. However, Tester has won re-election three times to his seat as a Democrat, and is currently the only Democrat holding a state-wide office.

Immigration is a major issue across federal campaigns this year as Democrats seek to blunt the Republican accusation that they are deliberately permitting illegal immigration, with Biden signing an executive order on June 4 that bans those who illegally cross the border from receiving asylum. However, he also issued an order on June 18 that would enable certain illegal immigrants who married U.S. citizens to obtain legal status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship themselves – which Republicans have derided as “amnesty.”

Not to be outdone, Trump last week announced that he would grant permanent residency to any international student graduating from a U.S. college or university. With over 1 million international students presently in the country, according to the Department of State, Trump’s proposal would represent the biggest expansion of legal immigration since the Reagan Administration, when a comprehensive immigration reform bill was last passed by Congress.

Tester and Sheehy did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether they support Biden’s and Trump’s latest actions, respectively.

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Montana

Montana Morning Headlines: Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Published

5 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

WESTERN MONTANA — Here’s a look at Western Montana’s top news stories for Tuesday.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office reports the suspect in last Thursday’s attempted kidnapping at a Kalispell gas station has been identified and arrested. The incident occurred at Woody’s gas station at Highways 35 and 206, where a man allegedly attempted to rob and kidnap a woman sitting in her car. (Read the full story)

Flathead County attempted kidnapping suspect in custody

The Bureau of Land Management is offering $1 permits for people to cut their own Christmas trees on public land, with options including Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and western larch. Harvesters must stay at least a quarter-mile from roads and rivers, with BLM encouraging people to target overcrowded areas where thinning would benefit forest management. (Read the full story)

Bureau of Land Management offering $1 Christmas tree permits

Two reindeer from a farm in Washington brought Christmas magic to Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply in Missoula on Dec. 6, featuring 10-year-old Candy and 1.5-year-old Elsa posing for photos and meeting dozens of families. The reindeer, raised by Jordan Duncan at Reindeer Express near Spokane, spend their off-season splashing in water and munching grass before returning to holiday duties. (Read the full story)

Creature Features: Reindeer for Rent

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Montana

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Published

17 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Montana-Montana State, known as the Brawl of the Wild, is one of the best rivalries in FCS. This year, more than bragging rights are on the line, as the matchup will take place in the FCS semifinals.

The high stakes and relatively smaller seating capacity have made this game the most expensive entry-level ticket in college football this weekend, including the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The cheapest ticket for the game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana, is $675 on Gametime Tickets compared to about $350 for the Miami at Texas A&M game, which is the most expensive of the four first-round College Football Playoff matchups. The most expensive ticket for the FCS semifinal is a sideline seat priced at $1,152. The Miami-Texas A&M game has Founder Club tickets listed at $2,484.

The seating capacity for Bobcat Stadium is 20,767, compared to more than 102,000 at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The other three CFP games this weekend will be hosted by Oklahoma (capacity 80,126), Ole Miss (64,038) and Oregon (60,000).

Next year’s Montana-Montana State matchup starts at $876, with some tickets listed as high as $1,359.

Montana State is the No. 2 seed in the playoffs at 12-2 after defeating Stephen F. Austin 44-28 in the quarterfinals this past weekend. Third-seeded Montana is 13-1 and beat South Dakota 52-22 in its quarterfinal. Montana leads the all-time rivalry 74-44-5.

Montana State has won the last two matchups between the teams, most recently winning 31-28 at Montana on Nov. 22. At least one of the teams has appeared in the FCS championship game in three of the past four years. Montana’s last national championship came in 2001, while Montana State’s came in 1984.

Montana is led by head coach Bobby Hauck, who is the second-winningest active FCS head coach and one of the top 10 winningest active coaches overall in Division I football at 151-42. Montana’s key players are quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, running back Eli Gillman and wide receiver Michael Wortham.

Montana State is led by head coach Brent Vigen. Key players for Montana State include quarterback Justin Lamson, running back Julius Davis and wide receiver Taco Dowler.

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Montana

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

The first playoff meeting between football rivals Montana and Montana State is set for 2 p.m. Mountain time next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will air nationally on ABC.

The Bobcats and Grizzlies will square off in the semifinal round of the FCS postseason after each team won convincingly in the quarterfinal round. No. 2-seeded Montana State defeated No. 7 Stephen F. Austin 44-28 at home Friday night and No. 3-seeded Montana raced past No. 11 South Dakota 52-22 on Saturday in Missoula.

Next week’s game between the Cats and Griz will be the 125th all-time meeting, and it will be for a berth in the national championship game Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

It will also be the first time the schools have faced each other twice in football in the same season since 1913.

The Bobcats are seeking their fourth all-time trip to the FCS/Division I-AA title game and their third visit in the past five years. MSU claims three national championships — 1956 (NAIA), 1976 (NCAA Division II) and 1984 (I-AA). The Bobcats lost to North Dakota State in the championship game in Frisco, Texas, in both 2021 and last season.

The Grizzlies are looking to make their ninth trip to the championship game and their second in the past three seasons. Montana has won two previous titles — in 1995 and 2001. The Griz suffered title-game losses in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2023.

Montana State beat Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 in the regular-season finale to earn the outright Big Sky Conference title and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 74-44-5 but MSU owns a 12-10 edge since 2002.

Saturday’s other semifinal game pits unseeded Illinois State against No. 12 seed Villanova. Illinois State went on the road and upset No. 8 seed UC Davis 42-31 in the quarterfinals on Saturday while Villanova held on to beat No. 4 seed Tarleton State 26-21.

Illinois State and Villanova will kick off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on ESPN2.

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