Flight carrying federal detainees leaves Minnesota as ICE activity escalates

About a dozen detainees were led out onto the snowy tarmac at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Friday.

The group of mostly Hispanic men were shackled at the hands, waist and feet by authorities who emerged from white vans bearing the Department of Homeland Security logo.

Each detainee ascended a staircase ramp to board an Airbus A321 airplane flown in by GlobalX Air — a charter carrier known to contract with ICE — which whisked them away to Omaha.

It’s the latest action in a week that started with a surge in immigration enforcement operations carried out by federal agents targeting Somalis and Latinos in the Twin Cities.

The increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence, combined with recent disparaging remarks from President Donald Trump, has sparked outrage from many residents who say it’s a discriminatory attack on the Somali community. Others have voiced support, saying it’s a necessary effort to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants and those with criminal records.

This follows two high-profile immigration raids in St. Paul last month that led to over a dozen arrests of undocumented Hispanic immigrants.

Here’s what we know about the arrests made so far, notable incidents that didn’t result in arrests and the community’s reaction:

Of the 12 arrests announced, five people are Somali, six are Mexican and one is Salvadoran, according to the Homeland Security news release.

The department called these dozen undocumented immigrants the “worst of the worst,” a phrase DHS frequently uses when announcing arrests across the country.

For seven of the detainees, past convictions included domestic violence, criminal sexual conduct with a minor and driving under the influence.

Notably, one of the men arrested with a criminal record was Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi, a Somali man who was covered extensively in local media as a former gang member who fought to avoid deportation. The release alleges that Abdi, who became a well-known sobriety mentor, is currently involved in a gang again. It states that he has convictions for “fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft and probation violations.”

But Abdi’s wife, Rhoda Christenson, told KARE-11 TV that ICE’s statement is incorrect, that he is not affiliated with any gangs, and he turned his life around after getting sober 13 years ago.

The department listed past convictions ranging from theft to criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

While the two large-scale immigration raids in St. Paul last month consisted of crowds of agents, this week’s ICE operations have been discreet, with a smaller number of agents showing up at houses, restaurants and other businesses attempting to arrest people or question them about their citizenship.

At least one Somali-American citizen was arrested, according to advocacy groups.

Just before the dinner rush on Wednesday, two ICE agents walked into the south Minneapolis restaurant Hola Arepa and demanded to look in the back of the establishment for a woman they suspected was working there.

But the manager said the picture the agents showed on a phone was not anyone who worked at Hola Arepa and told the agents they had to leave because they didn’t have a warrant, according to restaurant owner and chef Christina Nguyen.

“I definitely am concerned that they are kind of giving some false pretenses, and there’s not some criminal that they’re looking for, and they’re keeping it vague,” Nguyen said.

The owner added she was proud of how the manager and team handled the agents’ visit to the restaurant.

“Even in the face of a scary moment, they didn’t crumble under pressure, and they stood their ground,” Nguyen said.

Meanwhile, some school leaders have pledged to deny federal agents access to buildings without a warrant.

Arrests by ICE have skyrocketed under the Trump administration compared to former President Joe Biden’s tenure.

About 44% of the arrests this year are people who have not been convicted of a crime and currently do not face criminal charges; 37% of those detained have a past criminal conviction; and 19% have a pending criminal charge, according to the data.

On Friday, residents packed the basement of the Al Rahman Muslim Community Center in Bloomington after weekly prayers. It was the latest show of support for the Somali community.

“What’s happening to our Somali-Americans in Minnesota is unacceptable, un-American and dangerous,” said Khalid Omar, an organizer with the coalition of faith groups ISAIAH. “Over the last few days, our community has been terrorized by federal agents and ICE officers.”

Omar said immigration officials have been asking Somali-Americans who are U.S. citizens to produce passports and other legal documents.

Asad Zaman, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, said he is reluctantly advising fellow naturalized citizens to carry their passports with them.