The Trump administration has launched a new angle on the immigration fight in Minneapolis, stationing more than a hundred ICE officers to address the presence of suspected illegal Somali immigrants in the city.
Officials say the sweep could bring in up to 500 Somalis who are allegedly living in the United States without proper status. Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali community in the U.S., with estimates of over 80,000 residents, according to multiple sources.
The raid comes after unsettling revelations that scammers within the Somali community orchestrated large-scale fraud, costing Minnesota taxpayers roughly $1 billion, revelations that reportedly surfaced while Gov. Tim Walz was in office, according to the Department of Human Services.
During a White House cabinet briefing on Tuesday, President Trump denounced Somali illegal immigrants, saying, “I don’t want them in our country,” and added that “Somalia, which is one of the poorest countries on the planet, ‘stinks.’”
The president also called Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar—who was born in Somalia—describing her as “garbage.”
The Department of Homeland Security has clarified that the operation is not aimed at any particular community. The latest round of raids expanded to include a heavier ICE presence in New Orleans as of Tuesday.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin emphasized that ICE targets people based on their illegal status, not their race or ethnicity, stating, “Every day, ICE enforces the laws of the nation across the country. What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally. We do not discuss future or potential operations.”
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