St. Paul, Minnesota — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday sharply criticized federal immigration enforcement in his state, comparing recent ICE and Border Patrol operations to tactics used during Nazi occupation in World War II and urging President Donald Trump to withdraw federal agents.
Speaking after protests sparked by the killing of Alex Pretti, Walz said immigration raids have created widespread fear among immigrant families and children. He invoked Anne Frank while describing what he said were children hiding in their homes out of fear of being detained. “We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside,” Walz said, adding that history would judge the administration harshly for its actions.
The operations, which began last month, have been linked by state officials to heightened anxiety in immigrant communities. Walz said children who are undocumented or have undocumented parents are now fearful of attending school. His comments followed demonstrations across Minnesota demanding that federal agents leave the state.
Critics have pushed back on the analogy, noting significant historical differences between Nazi-era persecution and U.S. immigration enforcement. They point out that Anne Frank was a citizen stripped of her rights under an authoritarian regime and that deportation policies in the U.S. are not comparable to genocide or concentration camps.
Walz has previously used similar rhetoric, calling ICE a “modern-day Gestapo” last year. Other Democrats have echoed comparable language, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who last year likened Trump-era raids to authoritarian crackdowns meant to create fear and division within communities.
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