Justice Department Investigating Whether Minnesota’s Walz and Frey Impeded Immigration Enforcement

BLAINE, MN. – JANUARY 2026: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Blaine, Minn. on Thursday, January 8, 2026. The press conference was to update the public on the killing of Renee Nicole Good by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during a confrontation between federal agents and protesters in south Minneapolis Wednesday, January 7, 2026. (Photo by Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, according to two people familiar with the matter. The investigation focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a pending investigation by name. Walz and Frey both issued statements calling it an attempt to intimidate them. The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation.