The Trump administration is launching an aggressive ICE operation in Minnesota’s Twin Cities this week aimed primarily at undocumented Somali nationals with final deportation orders, according to an official and internal documents reviewed by The New York Times on Tuesday.
The push — which follows the White House highlighting a taxpayer-fraud case tied to members of Minnesota’s Somali community — will surge “strike teams” of federal officers into Minneapolis and St. Paul, with roughly 100 agents brought in from around the country, the Times reported. (RELATED: Judge Tosses Conviction Of Somali Who Ripped Off Minnesota Taxpayers)
“What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally,” Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller, declining to discuss “future or potential operations.”
The enforcement directive came as President Donald Trump escalated rhetoric about Somalis in the U.S., the Times reported, and will focus largely on those with final removal orders while potentially sweeping up others whose immigration cases are pending. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz slammed the plan as an “indiscriminately targeting” stunt.
“We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem,” Walz posted on X.
We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem. https://t.co/Y3vd0tLRmG
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) December 2, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said Somalis in Minneapolis had “ripped off American taxpayers,” pointing to a Times investigation of fraud within pockets of the state’s Somali diaspora — though only a small group were convicted, the paper noted.
The Times reported the Twin Cities push is part of a broader national crackdown, with recent ICE actions in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte. The administration argues stepped-up enforcement is necessary to fulfill Trump’s pledge to deport millions; officials have also used large deployments to deter illegal presence by sowing fear among migrants, the paper said.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, but recent federal actions have tested those limits — including a June operation near downtown Minneapolis that sparked clashes with protesters and a mid-November Saint Paul raid that led to 14 arrests, according to the Times.
The operation in Minnesota is beginning this week, the Times reported.
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