Federal immigration agents have launched a series of armed raids across Minnesota aimed at detaining Somali nationals wanted on federal warrants, sparking political backlash and confusion in the Twin Cities region known locally as “Somali-land Minnesota.”
According to The Post Millennial’s Katie Daviscourt, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began the operation over the weekend, deploying roughly 100 federal agents from across the country to execute immigration warrants against Somali nationals with prior deportation orders or criminal convictions. Sources told the outlet several arrests have already been made.
One male suspect allegedly assaulted officers before being taken into custody. A previously deported woman fled into a residence before she and “several collateral arrests” were made, according to Daviscourt’s report, which included exclusive video of the raids.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that masked individuals seen detaining residents in Somali neighborhoods were federal officers but warned that the department had not been briefed on the operation.
“If there is anything that is a violation of someone’s human rights or civil rights, excessive force or anything like that, officers have a duty to intervene,” O’Hara said, urging residents to call 911 if they encounter unidentified law enforcement activity.
Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the operation, reiterating that city policy bars Minneapolis police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities on civil enforcement.
“We do not and will not participate in ICE raids,” Frey said at a news conference, calling the actions “deeply concerning.”
The raids come amid an ongoing political firestorm in Minnesota’s Somali community after revelations of a $250 million COVID-relief fraud scheme that federal prosecutors say siphoned taxpayer funds from a program meant to feed low-income children. Federal investigators allege that portions of the stolen money were funneled overseas and may have reached al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate.
In a recent interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar suggested that members of the Somali community were the real victims. “We are also taxpayers in Minnesota,” Omar said, expressing frustration that her constituents were being portrayed as perpetrators rather than victims. When pressed by host Margaret Brennan about the reported terror-funding link, Omar responded, “If that is the case, we want to know, and we want those people prosecuted.”
Adding to the tension, congressional financial disclosures show Omar’s net worth surged nearly 3,500 percent last year — from roughly $51,000 to as much as $30 million — largely through her husband Tim Mynett’s investments in a California winery and a Washington, D.C. venture-capital firm.
Omar has denied the reports, calling them “a coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign.” But critics say the disclosure spike raises new ethics questions for the congresswoman just as her district becomes the focal point of federal immigration enforcement.
ICE has not commented publicly on the ongoing operation, citing the active nature of the warrants. A senior homeland-security official told Fox News that the raids are focused on “individuals with final removal orders and prior criminal histories,” adding that “Minnesota has one of the highest concentrations of deportation-eligible Somali nationals in the country.”
Federal officials emphasized that the enforcement effort is unrelated to the state’s pandemic-fraud investigations but said overlapping criminal networks have made coordination with financial-crimes and counterterrorism units “a matter of necessity.”
Local activists and Democratic officials, meanwhile, are framing the raids as political intimidation. “These kinds of actions terrorize families who have lived here for decades,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
As tensions mount, the Department of Homeland Security has reportedly ordered an internal review of communications breakdowns between ICE and local law enforcement, while Republican lawmakers are applauding the crackdown as long overdue.
“President Trump promised to restore the rule of law,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN). “If individuals here illegally are defrauding taxpayers and funneling money to terrorists, the federal government has every obligation to act.”
The raids are expected to continue through the week
