Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar said Wednesday that the Trump administration’s immigration raids are political theater.
The Trump administration plans to flood Minneapolis and St. Paul with roughly 100 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents this week to target undocumented Somali nationals with final deportation orders. Speaking on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Omar said federal agents created chaos in her district by stopping U.S. citizens and demanding proof of citizenship. The crackdown, she said, has nothing to do with keeping a community safe.
“We know it has really nothing to do about keeping a community safe. It’s actually terrorizing a community and creating fear,” Omar told host Jake Tapper.
Omar said the crackdown is unnecessary.
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“We know that Somalis, over 90% of them, are citizens of this country, a majority of them having [been] born in the United States. And we know that if you are a criminal, you already have deportation orders,” Omar said. “And there is an easy way for them to do that instead of creating this sort of fear where they are having raids. And today we saw them stopping citizens, and people were proving their citizenship by showing their passports.”
The directive prioritizes individuals with outstanding deportation rulings while leaving open the possibility that others with unresolved immigration files could be taken into custody. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz blasted the effort as a politically driven dragnet that targets people without distinction. (RELATED: Minneapolis Police Chief Grovels After Flagging ‘East African’ Crime In City)
Minnesota-based Somali nationals have funneled “untold millions” of dollars to the terrorist organization behind multiple East African attacks that killed at least 11 Americans. One member was convicted in November 2024 for planning a 9/11-style hijacking in the U.S.
On Friday, Trump moved to end the federal Temporary Protected Status program for tens of thousands of Somali nationals living in Minnesota. He said Walz turned the state into a hub for large-scale fraud and money-laundering schemes.
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