Representative Ilhan OmarMinnesota, said her adult son was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents Saturday in Minnesota and asked for proof of citizenship.
“Yesterday, after he stopped at Target, he was stopped by ICE agents,” said Omar, who said her son was born in the United States. WCCO-TV Twin Cities in an interview Sunday. “As soon as he was able to produce his passport, he was released.”
Omar, who immigrated to the US when she was 12 after fleeing civil war in Somalia, also accused ICE of “racial profiling” of her community.
“They are looking for Somali-looking young people who they believe are undocumented,” she said.
There are approximately 80,000 people of Somali descent living in Minnesota.
Representatives for ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and Omar's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Administration Officer previously told NBC News that ICE did not target Somali immigrants specifically.
Omar's speech on air came after she sent a letter on Friday to DHS about this month's immigration operations in her state, signing up for one more letter at DHS along with other Democratic lawmakers the same day asking for a response to President Donald Trump's promise last month. finish immediately temporary legal protection for Somalis living in Minnesota. The administration has taken measures to end similar protection of HaitiansAfghans and Venezuelans living in the USA
Trump has repeatedly disparaged Omar, Somalia and Somali immigrants.
“We always take people from Somalia, places where there is a disaster, right?” Trump told the crowd of supporters last week in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. “Dirty, dirty, disgusting, crime filled.”
Trump's Recent Focus on Minnesota and Omar came after The New York Times reported that dozens of people of Somali origin have been convicted of fraud schemes linked to the theft of nearly $1 billion in Covid relief funds.
“Here in the United States, we don't place blame on the entire society for the crimes of an individual,” Omar said in an interview Sunday. “We Minnesotans are also outraged by the fact that our tax dollars were stolen.”
