Twin Cities on alert after threat of ICE enforcement against Somali community

The threat of an immigration enforcement push targeting Somalis in the Twin Cities put officials on edge Tuesday as fear rippled through the East African community.

The enforcement operation could begin in the coming days and is expected to focus on the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and people with final orders of deportation, a person familiar with plans told the Associated Press. Teams of immigration agents would spread across the Twin Cities in what the person described as a directed, high-priority sweep, though the plans remain subject to change.

While there were few signs of a expansive effort on the ground yet, news of the coming federal action drew a swift response from city leaders, including the mayors of both cities, who gathered for a news conference at Minneapolis City Hall.

Mayor Jacob Frey said they were responding to “a number of credible reports” that as many as 100 federal agents will be deployed to the Twin Cities “with a specific focus on targeting our Somali community.”

He vowed to stand with the Minneapolis Somali population, the largest in the nation, amid crackdowns by the Trump administration aimed, he said, at even American citizens, for “no other reason” than appearing Somali.

“That is not now and will never be a legitimate reason,” said Frey.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on restricting immigration, has fixated on Minnesota’s Somali population in recent days after unproven claims members of the community were funneling money from defrauded social programs to an East African terrorist organization.

“Somalians ripped off [Minnesota] for billions of dollars, billions every year, billions of dollars. And they contribute nothing,” Trump said in a cabinet meeting Tuesday, an escalation of remarks he made about Somalis on Thanksgiving, soon after he threatened to revoke Temporary Protective Status for Somalis in Minnesota.

“They come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch,” he said of Somalis. “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

Republican members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation had not responded to requests for comment on Trump’s remarks as of Tuesday evening.

On Monday, the Trump administration said it will investigate Minnesota over claims that public dollars obtained fraudulently through abuse of the state’s welfare programs were then redirected to a foreign terrorist organization.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson declined to comment on the agency’s plans, but said any enforcement action is based on immigration status, not their race or ethnicity.

Khadijo Warsame, a single mother of three who owns the Zahra Café in Karmel Mall, said she agrees with efforts to charge those who have committed fraud and other crimes.

But she said Trump’s attacks are unfairly targeting the entire Twin Cities Somali community, including those who are law abiding and came to America to escape unsafe situations.

“We have good people,” Warsame said. “It’s hard workers like me, homeowners and business owners who love America.”

The café’s business was slower than usual on Tuesday, which Warsame suspected was due to the fear caused by Trump’s remarks. She said she hopes that the government does not deport innocent Somali people, and called for the government and representatives to take steps to protect the community.

Rashid Mohamud, who immigrated from Somalia, said Trump is using Somalis as a foil for a broader attack on a multicultural society.

At the news conference Tuesday, Frey voiced concerns that federal agents would mistakenly target citizens. A large majority of the 80,000 Somali people in Minnesota were born here or are naturalized citizens.

“They’re going to make mistakes,” Frey said. “They’re going to screw it up so badly that they’re not just violating habeas corpus, but they are taking away the rights of American citizens.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said Minnesota has long been a beacon for immigration from Europe, but now, he said, “it seems to many of us, the darker skinned the immigrants who come to our country are, the more posture on immigration as a country has shifted. That’s un-American. That’s concerning.”

Minneapolis Council Member Jamal Osman, who represents the ward that includes the heavily East African Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, urged members of the Somali community to know their rights, get connected with attorneys and never allow federal agents inside their homes without a warrant.

“Have your documents with you,” he said. “Wherever you go, be aware of your surroundings — especially if they come to your house. Do not let them in, unless there’s a court order. Most of them don’t."

O’Hara stressed that his objective is to minimize his officers’ exposure to such federal enforcement actions and only respond when “there is a legitimate public safety issue that we are responsible to our community to provide. That means when there are threats of violence, when there is actual violence or when there is property destruction.”

He acknowledged that citizens may want to exercise their First Amendment rights — and vowed that his agency would protect their ability to do that — but urged peaceful protests.

He said nonviolence is necessary “to minimize the risk of any tragedy happening, or the immigrant communities that are already suffering to suffer that much more if there is destruction in our neighborhoods.”