ST. PAUL, Minn. — Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas Tuesday on the offices of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Twin Cities leaders, widening a criminal probe into whether state and local officials hindered federal immigration operations. The DOJ subpoenas demand records tied to cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as President Donald Trump’s administration pours agents into the region and confrontations spill into courts and the streets, Jan. 21, 2026.
DOJ subpoenas raise stakes for Walz, Frey and other Twin Cities officials
The DOJ subpoenas went to six offices, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, according to The Associated Press. The AP reported the inquiry is focused on whether public statements or other actions amounted to obstruction or a conspiracy to impede federal immigration enforcement.
A subpoena shared by Frey directs his office to produce documents dating back to the start of 2025 related to “cooperation or lack of cooperation with federal immigration authorities.” The demands add pressure on local governments already navigating policies that limit how city workers can assist in federal immigration enforcement while still responding to public safety concerns.
Frey and Walz have described the investigation as political intimidation. Frey said residents “shouldn’t have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics,” while Her said she was “unfazed” by the subpoenas, the AP reported.
The Justice Department has not publicly detailed the evidence it is presenting to the grand jury. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and subpoenas are not proof of wrongdoing. Still, the DOJ subpoenas signal a rare escalation: using criminal process to scrutinize elected leaders’ resistance to federal policy in real time.
Operation Metro Surge and the legal fight behind the subpoenas
The subpoenas land amid what federal officials have described as a major immigration enforcement surge in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, an operation the AP and other outlets have called Operation Metro Surge. Walz and other Democrats have urged calm while also arguing the federal tactics are unsafe and constitutionally suspect, including after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, according to the Reuters and AP accounts.
In parallel, Minnesota’s legal challenge to the enforcement push is moving through federal court. In filings summarized by the AP, Justice Department attorneys argued the state is effectively seeking to block federal law enforcement activity; Ellison has countered that the crackdown violates constitutional protections, including free speech and due process.
Additional details about the subpoenas — including a reported Feb. 3 grand jury date tied to Frey’s records request and the Justice Department’s broader staffing and prosecution posture in Minnesota — were reported by The Washington Post.
Older disputes show a long-running federal-local fault line
The clash over the DOJ subpoenas fits a broader pattern of federal-local conflict over immigration enforcement that has cycled through courtrooms for years. In 2018, the Justice Department under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued California over “sanctuary” policies, arguing state limits on cooperation interfered with federal authority. In 2021, the Biden administration’s Justice Department ended Trump-era grant limits tied to immigration cooperation after years of litigation over whether the federal government could condition public-safety funding on local compliance.
For Minnesota officials now facing the DOJ subpoenas, the next phase will likely play out on two tracks: compliance and court motions tied to the grand jury demands, and the separate civil fight over how far federal agents can go during the ongoing crackdown.
