Federal immigration agents are swarming Minnesota amid the state’s widening fraud scandal.
The agents will focus on the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, according to CBS News, which cited as its source multiple law enforcement officials it did not name.
More than 2,000 agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations are expected to wage a 30-day campaign.
“This is a massive resource allocation,” one official said.
Minneapolis will be “the new Chicago,” the official said, referencing a past surge to fight immigration crimes there.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino, who has led past surges, is expected to take command.
The deployment began Sunday with hundreds of agents from Homeland Security Investigations and hundreds of officers from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which is responsible for deportations.
CBS News reported it was told that up to 600 HSI agents and up to 1,500 ICE officers could be involved in the operation.
Late last year, ICE arrested nearly 700 people in an immigration enforcement campaign in the Twin Cities area.
The surge of agents comes after more than 90 people have been indicted in widespread fraud cases.
The fraud fallout has forced Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to reconsider his plans to seek a third term.
Walz, who ran for vice president in 2024, announced Monday he will not seek re-election, according to Fox News.
Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor who investigated some fraud allegations, said Walz “allowed fraudsters to steal billions from taxpayers and did nothing.”
“The only fraud scheme Walz has chosen to end is his political career,” Teirab said.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Monday he wants state officials to appear at a Wednesday hearing on the fraud, according to WCIV-TV.
If neither Walz nor Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison show up, it would be an “admission of guilt,” Comer said.
“We’ve asked not only Gov. Walz, but also Attorney General Ellison, both of whom were in Congress, who I served with in Congress, so they know the rules of Congress,” Comer said. “They know how serious this is. This has gotten the attention of the national public.”
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