Federal authorities say they are preparing a major immigration-enforcement operation in Minnesota that will — if carried out — focus largely on Somali immigrants living without legal status in the United States. The operation is expected to begin in the coming days, and target people in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area who have final deportation orders.
The planned sweep comes after increasingly forceful rhetoric from Donald Trump, who during a recent Cabinet meeting said he did not want Somali immigrants in the country, arguing they “contribute nothing.”
According to sources familiar with the planning, teams of immigration agents would spread across the Twin Cities in a “directed, high-priority sweep.” The timing and details remain subject to change.
Local officials and Somali-American community leaders immediately condemned the operation. Jacob Frey, mayor of Minneapolis, said the city’s police will not cooperate with federal agents, arguing that targeting Somali people risks “mistakes,” civil-rights violations, and even the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens who “look like they are Somali.”
Critics warn the operation — coming just days after the administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrants in Minnesota — could inflame fear and distrust among immigrant communities, and raise broader concerns about racial and religious profiling.
