MINNEAPOLIS — Federal officials confirmed Thursday that several people of Somali origin were among those arrested in an immigration enforcement sweep in Minneapolis, days after President Donald Trump launched a barrage of incendiary insults at Somali immigrants and declared he wanted them expelled from the United States.
The arrests, which began Monday, marked the administration’s latest crackdown targeting immigrant communities. In its first public statement on the operation, the Department of Homeland Security did not provide a total arrest count but released profiles of 12 detainees.
Five were identified as Somali nationals, while others were from Mexico and El Salvador. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described all 12 as “dangerous criminals,” citing convictions ranging from fraud and stolen vehicles to criminal sexual conduct and driving under the influence.
In Minneapolis, officials expressed deep concern that the operation came immediately after Trump’s sharply derogatory remarks about Somali immigrants and Somali Americans — including elected leaders — during a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Reacting to reports of fraud cases involving a small number of individuals in the state, Trump accused Minnesota’s Somali community of “ripping off” the country, calling immigrants “garbage” and saying they should be sent “back to where they came from.”
The comments triggered swift condemnation from city leaders. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged Americans to “love and respect” the city’s Somali immigrant population, which is the largest in North America and an integral part of the region’s cultural and economic fabric.
Trump’s allies, however, applauded the rhetoric, framing the remarks as a necessary hard line on immigration. Trump has leaned heavily on anti-immigrant messaging since his first presidential campaign, and since taking office he has overseen increasingly aggressive operations by masked federal agents across major cities in a bid to accelerate deportations.
The Minneapolis arrests were part of a broader enforcement push. Federal officials confirmed Thursday that dozens of people had also been detained in New Orleans, another Democratic-run city where tensions escalated quickly.
On the second day of the operation, protesters disrupted a city council meeting, demanding that municipal buildings be declared “ICE-Free” zones to prevent federal agents from staging operations on city property.
Activists accused federal officers of indiscriminately targeting people of color, including U.S. citizens with no criminal history — charges the Department of Homeland Security denies.
New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said the raids had created a climate of fear among the city’s most vulnerable residents. Announcing an online portal for reporting alleged misconduct by federal agents, she said: “We must do what we can to protect New Orleans and ensure due process is followed for all of our residents.”
Louisiana’s Republican Governor Jeff Landry voiced support for the operation, aligning himself with Trump’s broader immigration agenda.
The Minneapolis arrests — coming amid a national political storm over Trump’s attacks on Somali Americans — signal that the administration’s latest enforcement campaign is likely to deepen the political and cultural divides that have defined this immigration debate for years.
