Trump administration orders ICE to target undocumented Somali immigrants in Twin Cities, source says

The Trump administration has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target undocumented Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities, a person familiar with the plan confirmed.

A U.S. official said ICE is considering increasing its resources to the Minneapolis-St. Paul to launch immigration control operations there targeting people subject to deportation orders. The region has a large population of Somali immigrants, some of whom are subject to deportation orders.

ICE’s enhanced operations in the Twin Cities are expected to begin this week, the official said. The operations were first reported by the New York Times.

Hundreds of people are expected to be targeted, the source close to the matter said.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the agency would not discuss “future or potential operations.”

President Trump: “I don’t want [Somalis] in our country”

Amid reports released Tuesday, President Trump further targeted Minnesota’s Somali community, Somali country and the diaspora as a whole.

“They don’t add anything…I don’t want them in our country,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “It’s not politically correct, but I don’t care. I don’t want them here. Their country isn’t good for a reason.”

In a Thanksgiving post in which he also called Governor Tim Walz an insult to people with developmental disabilitiesMr. Trump said Somali refugees are “completely taking over the once great state of Minnesota.”

Mr. Trump also previously ordered that all green card holders from Somalia and more than a dozen other countries be re-examined and said he would end the temporary protected status of Somalis in Minnesota, claiming, without evidence, that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of this great state.” This latest decision would affect hundreds of people in the community.

Mr. Trump has increasingly taken an interest in people of Somali descent living in the United States, recently saying they “have caused a lot of problems,” rhetoric that community leaders say has stoked tensions and reignited fears of profiling.

On Monday evening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also announced that his department investigation into whether Minnesota tax money reached Al Shabaaba U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda based in Somalia.

Leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul stand in solidarity with the Somali community

At a joint news conference Tuesday afternoon, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, along with Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, said they stand in solidarity with the metro’s Somali community.

“To our Somali community, I love you and we stand with you. This commitment is strong,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Minneapolis is proud to be home to the largest Somali community in the entire country. They have been here for decades, in many cases. Entrepreneurs and family men, they benefit both the cultures and economic resilience of our city.”

Frey said targeting Minnesota’s Somali population “means due process will be violated.”

“Mistakes will be made, and let’s be clear, that means U.S. citizens will be detained, for no other reason than they look like Somalis,” Frey said. “It is not now and never will be a legitimate reason.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the Trump administration’s actions were “un-American.”

“I grew up in an America that prided itself on being a country of immigrants, that prided itself on the fact that people from other countries looked across an ocean and said that’s where I want to be. It seems like what we learned is that we’re proud of ourselves and we’ve been proud for decades and generations of being a beacon for immigration from Europe,” Carter said. “I mean, it seems to many of us that the more dark-skinned immigrants who come to our country, the more our stance on immigration as a country has changed. That’s un-American. That’s concerning.”

Carter said the Twin Cities must come together to stand up for immigrants and refugees.

“The last thing we need is federal agents coming to town to try to turn us against each other, to turn us against ourselves. The last thing we need is federal agents coming to town to create chaos and challenge us, and so we are united,” Carter said. “We encourage people to reach out to organizations that serve immigrants and refugees in our community because we’re constantly reminding them what your rights are. You have rights, it’s an American thing.”

Somali-born Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman was blunt in his assessment of the president.

“One of the things I want to say, and obviously everyone knows our president is racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and we’re going to fight that,” Osman said. “America has a history of fighting and stopping these kinds of individuals who continue to divide people and communities.”

Osman said his community would stand firm in the current climate of danger.

“Our community has experienced fear in the past, and we’re not going to let them divide that,” Osman said.

As Minneapolis police chief, O’Hara reiterated that his officers do not work with federal law enforcement agencies that handle immigration.

“We do not provide any information to federal immigration authorities,” he said. “We do not ask people about their immigration status. Our mission is clear: to protect lives, uphold the law and ensure the safety of all members of our communities.”

Governor Walz calls reports of ICE operation a ‘PR stunt’

On Tuesday afternoon, Walz responded to reports that ICE was targeting undocumented Somalis in the Twin Cities, calling it a “PR stunt.”

“We appreciate your support in investigating and prosecuting the crimes,” Walz added. “Indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem.”

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United Statesor about 80,000 people, according to Minnesota Compass, a project of Wilder Research. Many fled the long civil war in their East African country and were drawn to the state’s welcoming social programs.

Jaylani Hussein, a Somali American who is executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group had heard of “less than a dozen” immigrant arrests in the local Somali community in recent days.

But Hussein said about 95 percent of Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens, so the number of those in the early stages of the immigration process represents a “fairly small” proportion of the community. He said they estimate 50 percent of the community was born in the United States.