The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a sharp rebuke Monday after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to Nazis and suggested that the next “Anne Frank” could be a young girl in Minnesota hiding from deportation.
The response came via the museum’s official X account and was unusually direct. While acknowledging tensions in Minnesota, the museum made clear that Walz’s analogy crossed a line by drawing a political comparison between American federal agents and perpetrators of the Holocaust.
“Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish,” the museum wrote. “Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges.”
The U.S. Holocaust Museum rebuked politicians for comparing illegal immigrants targeted by ICE to Anne Frank after Tim Walz did just that during a press conference on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/6ATgHXXL2i
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) January 27, 2026
Walz’s remarks were made during a recent press conference following a fatal shooting involving Border Patrol agents. Attempting to frame immigration enforcement as a climate of fear, Walz said, “We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.”
The comments immediately sparked backlash, particularly from Jewish organizations and law enforcement supporters who said the comparison trivialized the Holocaust and demonized federal officers. Walz has a history of using such rhetoric, having previously referred to immigration officials as “Trump’s modern-day Gestapo,” a term associated with Nazi Germany’s secret police.
Walz is not alone among Democrats in escalating historical comparisons. On Sunday, newly elected New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and likened ICE agents to the Stasi, the notorious secret police force of communist East Germany known for mass surveillance and political repression.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES — Tim Walz just compared ICE to Nazi Germany and crossed a line:
“Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. pic.twitter.com/tEjTZWeDFH
Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota!”
This is dangerous rhetoric. Prosecute and arrest Tim…
— Luca Taner (@LucaTaner) January 25, 2026
California Governor Gavin Newsom, widely viewed as a top contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, echoed similar themes while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Newsom singled out Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, accusing him of resembling a member of the SS. “Greg Bovino is dressed up as if he literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb,” Newsom said. “Secret police … Private army … Masked men.”
Law enforcement leaders and officials within the Trump administration have pushed back forcefully against the rhetoric, warning that such language has real-world consequences. According to federal officials, assaults and death threats against immigration agents and their families have increased dramatically, a trend they say is fueled by repeated comparisons to authoritarian regimes and historical villains.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., issued a statement on Monday in effect calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s comparison of U.S. immigration enforcement operations to Nazi Germany “deeply offensive.” Walz made the connection… https://t.co/xkGcjC5YFL pic.twitter.com/prDKmHQbIW
— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) January 27, 2026
The Holocaust Museum’s statement underscored that concern, emphasizing that the memory of the Holocaust should not be repurposed for modern political attacks. As antisemitism continues to rise globally, the museum warned that invoking Anne Frank or Nazi analogies in contemporary political debates does more harm than good.
The episode highlights a growing divide over immigration enforcement, with critics increasingly turning to extreme historical comparisons, and defenders arguing that those comparisons inflame tensions and put lives at risk.
