The Trump administration has directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target undocumented Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities, a person familiar with the planning confirmed.
A U.S. official says Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to increase resources to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to launch immigration enforcement operations there targeting individuals with deportation orders. The region is home to the largest population of immigrants from Somalia in the United States, some of whom have had deportation orders issued against them.
Enhanced ICE operations are expected to begin in the Twin Cities this week, the official said. The operations were First reported by The New York Times.
The person familiar with the planning said hundreds of people were expected to be targeted.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the agency would not discuss “future or potential operations.”
President Trump: “I don’t want to [Somalis] In our country”
Amid reports released on Tuesday, President Trump targeted the Somali community in Minnesota, the country of Somalia and the diaspora in general.
“They contribute nothing,” Trump told the press on Tuesday. “I don’t want them in our country.” “It’s not politically correct, but I don’t care. I don’t want them here. Their country isn’t good for some reason.”
In a A Thanksgiving post where he also called Gov. Tim Walz a slur for people with intellectual disabilitiesMr. Trump said Somali refugees were “completely taking over the once-great state of Minnesota.”
Mr. Trump also previously ordered the revetting of all green card holders from Somalia and more than a dozen other countries, and said he would end temporary protected status for Somalis in Minnesota, claiming, without evidence, that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state.” The latest move will affect hundreds in the community.
Mr. Trump has become increasingly focused on people of Somali descent living in the United States, recently saying they have “caused a lot of trouble,” rhetoric that community leaders say has inflamed tensions and revived fears of profiling.
On Monday evening, Treasurer Scott Bessent also announced his department Investigating whether Minnesota tax money found its way to Al-Shabaaba US-designated foreign terrorist organization and an offshoot of Al Qaeda based in Somalia.
Leaders of Minneapolis and St. Paul stand in solidarity with the Somali community
In 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 Somali community in the metro.
“To our Somali community, I love you, and we stand with you,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “This commitment is rock solid.” “Minneapolis is proud to be home to the largest Somali community in the entire country. They’ve been here for decades, in many cases. Business people and parents, they benefit our city’s cultures and economic resilience.”
Fry said targeting Somali residents in Minnesota “means that due process will be violated.”
“Mistakes will be made, and let’s be clear, that means American citizens will be detained for no other reason than the fact that they look like Somalis,” Frey said. “This is not now and will never 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 prides itself on being a country of immigrants, and prides itself on the fact that people from other countries look across the entire ocean and say this is where I want to be,” Carter said. “And what we seem to have learned is that we pride ourselves and we have decades and generations of pride in ourselves in being a beacon of immigration from Europe.” “I mean, it seems to a lot of us that the darker the skin of immigrants who come to our country, the more our stance on immigration changes as a country. And that’s un-American. And that’s troubling.”
Carter said the Twin Cities need to unite to defend immigrants and refugees.
“The last thing we need is federal agents coming into the city to try to turn us against each other, to turn us against ourselves. The last thing we need is federal agents coming into the city to create chaos and challenge us, so we stand together,” Carter said. “We encourage people to look at organizations that serve immigrants and refugees in our community because we have constant reminders about your rights. You have rights, and that’s an American thing.”
Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, who was born in Somalia, did not hesitate in his assessment of the president.
“One of the things I want to say, obviously, is that everyone knows that our president is racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic, and we will fight that,” Othman said. “America has a history of fighting and stopping these types of individuals who continue to divide people and communities.”
Othman said his community will remain steadfast amid the current climate of danger.
“Our community has lived in fear in the past, and we will not allow them to divide that,” Othman said.
As Minneapolis police chief, O’Hara reiterated that his police officers do not work with federal law enforcement that enforces immigration laws.
“We do not provide information to federal immigration authorities,” he said. “We don’t ask people about their immigration status. Our mission is clear: to protect life, uphold the law, and keep all people in our communities safe.”
Governor Walz calls reports of ICE operation a ‘PR stunt’
On Tuesday afternoon, Walz responded to reports that ICE would target undocumented Somalis in the Twin Cities, calling it a “PR stunt.”
“We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crimes,” Walz added. “Indiscriminately targeting migrants is not a real solution to the problem.”
Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United StatesThey number 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 attracted to the country’s welcoming social programs.
Jelani Hussein, a Somali-American who is executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group has heard of “less than a dozen” arrests of immigrants within the local Somali community in recent days.
But about 95% of Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens, so the number of those in the early stages of the immigration process represents a “very small” percentage of the community, Hussein said. He said they estimate that 50% of the community was born in the United States
The history behind the Somali-American community in Minnesota
Dr. Ahmed Samter, founding dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, spoke with WCCO in 2019 about Why did so many Somali Americans return to their homeland, “the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes?”.
Sumter said it all started in 1991 with the civil war in Somalia.
“All Somalis must flee,” Sumter said. “Whoever receives them must flee.”
Some of them remained in Somalia but were internally displaced. Others went to refugee camps in neighboring countries. Many of them were sent to other countries around the world.
According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, 13,582 Somali refugees came to Minnesota between 2005 and 2018.
“Of course, when some come, they will tell others the good news about Minnesota,” Samatar said. “I call that the ‘kinship call.’”
He believes there are a variety of reasons for so-called “secondary arrivals,” but there are a few that stand out. The first is support provided by local voluntary resettlement agencies that work with governments to help refugees find housing, education and employment opportunities.
Samatar also pointed to Minnesota’s strong economy, which has provided Somali Americans with job opportunities — many in western Minnesota — education and health care options and a safe place to live.
“I’ve always thought of Minnesota as a nice, successful place,” he said.