Senator calls out ‘grassroots’ anti-ICE groups, urges DOJ investigation into ‘coordinated national operation’

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Sen.Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling out what he described as anti-ICE agitators “presenting” as grassroots organizations across the country Tuesday, urging aJustice Departmentinvestigation into what he said reporting suggests is actually a “coordinated national operation.”

Hawley called for the investigation in a letter to Attorney GeneralMINNESOTA AGITATOR ARRESTED IN WAKE OF CHURCH INVASION, BONDI SAYS

Josh Hawley speaks during a senate hearing

Sen.Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, is calling for an investigation into anti-ICE protesters.(Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hawley said that if foreign groups are linked to the alleged funding schemes it could violate “federal prohibitions on foreign influence.” He argued such funding schemes could also amount to “racketeering.”

“Given the public-safety and national-security implications, the Department’s immediate attention is warranted.As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice promptly open a full investigation into these funding networks,” Hawley wrote.

‘MOB MENTALITY’ ENDANGERS OFFICERS AMID ANTI-ICE UNREST AND CHAOS IN MINNEAPOLIS, RETIRED COPS WARN

Protesters walk in a large group through downtown streets toward a federal immigration facility.

Hundreds of people march from Portland City Hall to an ICE facility to protest the agency’s actions in Portland, Oregon, on Feb.1, 2026.(Sean Bascom/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The letter comes as anti-ICE agitators have caused unrest across the country, including in Minneapolis, Portland, California and elsewhere.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Tuesday that federal investigators are uncovering a “massive underground fraud network” in Minneapolis that he suggested helped fuel a sudden, coordinated push to drive ICE out of the city.

“We had a massive fraud going on all through Minneapolis, all through Minnesota, and suddenly it turned.It turned almost on a dime, and it became suddenly all about ICE, all about getting ICE out and how horrible ICE was doing,” Blanche said Monday on “The Ingraham Angle.”

“[We had] very strong pushback when we raised our hands and said ‘stop,’ so, yes, we havemultiple investigationsgoing on.”

Read Hawley’s full letter below

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Blanche also pointed to the financial dimensions of the case, noting that investigators are making “progress” in tracing funding streams connected to the alleged network.Blanche said unraveling those money trails is a priority for federal law enforcement, though he did not name specific individuals or sources.

“It’s not something we’re going to do overnight,” he said, “But … it’s not just [a] coincidence that these massive numbers of protesters and rioters and agitators show up at the same time, and they’re pushing back on what has been a profit center for fraudsters.”

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