ICE to target Somalis in Minneapolis-St. Paul area

Dec. 2 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are targeting Somalis in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area amid reports of widespread fraud that targets state support programs.

The ICE surge comes after President Donald Trump last week said he is ending temporary protected status for Somalis in Minneapolis, The New York Times, CNN and KMSP reported on Tuesday.

The surge is expected to start this week and mostly will focus on Somalis who have final deportation orders in place, but others who have applied for legal residency also might be detained pending deportation.

About 100 ICE agents and other federal officers will be deployed in strike teams while undertaking the operation.

Twin Cities officials on Tuesday held a news conference to address reports of the pending ICE deployment there and said they were not informed of the matter.

“To our Somali community, we love you and we stand with you,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

“Minneapolis is proud to be home to the largest Somali community in the entire country,” he said, adding that Minneapolis police will not assist the ICE operation.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter likewise expressed support for the local Somali community.

“The last thing we need is federal agents coming in town to create chaos and challenge for us,” Carter said.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told The New York Times that the surge is intended to thwart illegal immigration.

“What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity but the fact that they are in the country illegally,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

The New York Times on Saturday reported dozens of Somali migrants were charged with crimes in which they are accused of creating businesses that defrauded the state by billing various Minnesota agencies for more than $1 billion in services for children that never were provided.

Federal prosecutors said 59 people already have been convicted of related crimes.

President Donald Trump, during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, said he does not want immigrants from Somalia to stay in the United States.

He described Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is from Somalia, and other Somalians as “garbage” and said they should “go back to where they came from,” as reported by CNN.

“Their country is no good for a reason,” the president said. “Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.”

Trump included Somalia in a recently imposed travel ban on citizens from 19 nations.

The Twin Cities surge comes as officials in New Orleans likewise prepare for a reported ICE surge there.