WASHINGTON — In a virulent attack during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump labeled Somali immigrants “garbage” and declared they “contribute nothing,” as multiple news outlets reported a coordinated federal immigration enforcement operation targeting the Somali community in Minnesota.
The xenophobic tirade, which also targeted U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a naturalized citizen born in Somalia, came hours before The New York Times and Associated Press confirmed plans for a ramped-up deportation effort in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. According to the reports, approximately 100 federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies are being deployed as “strike teams” to apprehend Somalis with final deportation orders.
“They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing … When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country,” Trump said. Referring to Omar, he added, “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.” He asserted that Somalia “stinks” and is “no good for a reason,” and that those from there should “go back… and fix it.”
Context of the Crackdown
The reported enforcement surge follows a sustained campaign by right-wing media and officials to spotlight criminal cases involving a small number of Somali residents in Minnesota. Over multiple years, prosecutors have alleged fraud in state reimbursement programs for meals, medical care, and autism services, involving dozens of individuals.
Citing these cases, the Trump administration has previously threatened to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota, labeling the state a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.” On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated accusations by announcing an investigation into whether Minnesota taxpayer funds had been “diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab,” based on a story from a right-wing outlet.
Local Backlash and Community Solidarity
The reports triggered immediate condemnation and alarm from Minnesota leaders. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, alongside city council members and police officials, held a press conference Tuesday to address what he called “credible reports” of the impending operation.
“To our Somali community, we love you and we stand with you,” Frey stated. “That commitment is rock solid.” He emphasized that Minneapolis police do not assist in immigration enforcement and do not receive advance notice of ICE operations.
Frey warned of the likely consequences of a targeted operation: “Targeting Somali people means that due process will be violated, mistakes will be made, and let’s be clear, it means that American citizens will be detained for no other reason than they look Somali.”
Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the United States, with an estimated 80,000 people in Minnesota. The vast majority are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
National and Historical Resonance
Trump’s comments and the reported enforcement action mark a significant escalation in his long-standing pattern of singling out majority-Muslim and African nations for derogatory attacks. His administration’s “travel ban” initially barred immigration from several Muslim-majority countries, including Somalia.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a former refugee who became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has frequently been the subject of Trump’s racist and Islamophobic attacks. In 2019, he told a rally she and three other progressive congresswomen of color should “go back” to the “broken and crime-infested” countries they came from.
Civil rights organizations condemned the latest remarks and reports. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the rhetoric “dehumanizing” and said the enforcement action appears designed to “terrorize a whole community based on their ethnicity and faith.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not officially confirmed the details of the Minneapolis operation. Legal advocates are urging community members to know their rights and prepare for potential encounters with federal agents, as the tension between a targeted immigration crackdown and a deeply rooted, legally present community continues to mount.
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