Trump’s ICE Reportedly Targeting Somali Illegal Immigrants In Wake Of Minnesota Fraud Scandal
The Trump administration is launching an aggressive ICE operation in Minnesota’s Twin Cities this week, primarily targeting undocumented Somali nationals with final deportation orders, according to official and internal documents reviewed Tuesday by The New York Times.
The initiative — which follows the White House’s uncovering of tax fraud linked to members of Minnesota’s Somali community — will send “strike teams” of federal officers to Minneapolis and St. Paul, with about 100 agents from across the country, the Times reported. (RELATED: Judge tosses conviction of Somali man who scammed Minnesota taxpayers)
“What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally,” Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller, declining to discuss “future or potential operations.”
The enforcement directive came as President Donald Trump has stepped up his rhetoric about Somalis in the United States, the Times reported, and will focus largely on those who have been subject to final deportation orders while potentially sweeping aside others whose immigration cases are pending. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz called the plan a “indiscriminate targeting” stunt.
“We appreciate any support in investigating and prosecuting the crimes. But launching a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem,” Walz posted on X.
We appreciate your support in criminal investigations and prosecutions. But doing a publicity stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem. https://t.co/Y3vd0tLRmG
– Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) December 2, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Somalis in Minneapolis had “ripped off American taxpayers,” pointing to a Times investigation into fraud among pockets of the state’s Somali diaspora — although only a small group has been convicted, the newspaper noted.
The Times reported that the Twin Cities campaign was part of a broader national crackdown, along with recent ICE actions in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte. The administration says increased enforcement is needed to fulfill Trump’s pledge to deport millions; officials have also used massive deployments to deter illegal presence by sowing fear among migrants, the newspaper said.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement, but recent federal actions have tested those limits — including a June operation near downtown Minneapolis that sparked clashes with protesters and a mid-November raid in Saint Paul that led to 14 arrests, according to the Times.
The operation in Minnesota begins this week, the Times reported.
