Walz defends ‘Gestapo’ comment, as he confronts thorny politics of immigration

In a grueling hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill, Gov. Tim Walz told lawmakers that the immigration system is broken and state and federal officials need to work together to fix it.

In the same hearing, he went to the mat defending his claim that President Donald Trump is using federal immigration agents as a “modern-day Gestapo,” even as other Democratic governors at the table distanced themselves from the reference to Nazi Germany’s secret police.

The daylong appearance showed how the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee is trying to navigate the difficult politics of immigration, an issue that has dogged Walz and his party for years. While the governor, who is considering a run for president, often tried to sound like a moderate, he dug in on the rhetoric that channels Democrats’ anger about Trump’s tactics.

“I very much felt like Gov. Walz was kind of the Goldilocks governor in that testimony,” said Minnesota Democratic strategist Abou Amara. “On certain things, he very much was a progressive. On other things, he was very much temperamentally in the middle.”

Two other Democrats summoned to the hearing, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, broke from Walz when asked if they agreed with his Gestapo comment.

“I don’t use language like that in describing anyone,” Hochul answered.

“It’s not a word I would use,” said Pritzker, “but I will say that I understand the sentiments that people feel.”

Walz stood by his remarks, explaining he draws a line at deporting people without due process.

“I said President Trump was using them as his modern-day Gestapo. Not identifying who you are, coming up in unmarked vans, taking people away,” Walz said. “The Constitution is not an inconvenience. It’s not an either or.”

Amara said Walz’s rhetoric about Trump’s deportations is in line with the Democratic Party’s re-energized base. He thinks Walz struck a balance that “maybe Gov. Pritzker or Gov. Hochul did not.”

But Walz’s words rang hollow with U.S. House Republicans, who repeatedly derided him for the comparison and also criticized policies he signed into law.

“You claim you’re not a sanctuary state. You just provide free health care, free college and driver’s licenses to illegal aliens,” said fellow Minnesotan and GOP Rep. Tom Emmer, previewing a line of attack Walz could face if he runs for governor again next fall or seeks national office in 2028.

Walz signed a blitz of liberal policies into law two years ago that included allowing undocumented immigrants to qualify for free college tuition, obtain driver’s licenses and enroll in MinnesotaCare, the state-funded health care program for low-income residents.

Walz reversed course on one of those policies last month when he struck a budget agreement with Republicans that repeals MinnesotaCare coverage for adult undocumented immigrants, while maintaining it for kids. The move angered fellow Democrats, some of whom protested outside his office.

Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also seen as contenders for the 2028 Democratic nomination, have similarly proposed scaling back health care coverage for undocumented immigrants to balance their states’ budgets.

Walz mostly avoided falling into political traps and heated exchanges during the hearing, even when Emmer launched into a several-minute tirade against him and cut him off when he tried to respond.

When a Democratic representative asked the three governors what they would do if Trump’s border czar tried to arrest them, Pritzker and Hochul dared him to try, echoing recent comments by Newsom.

Walz, on the other hand, parried the question and said the threat of arrest “doesn’t help any of us.”

University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs said Walz stands out nationally as “one of the most supportive governors on the issue of undocumented immigrants.” Yet, he managed to avoid intense criticism of his policy record during the hearing.

For the most part, Jacobs said, Walz showed restraint and didn’t “take the bait” from Republicans with their line of questioning.

“I think Walz is willing to push back pretty hard against Trump,” Jacobs said. “But I think he’s trying to do it in a manner that’s kind of Midwestern cordial.”