Author: Heather Schlitz and Andrew Hay
MINNEAPOLIS – People of Somali descent were among those arrested in an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, federal officials said Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump insulted immigrants from the Horn of Africa country and said he wanted them to leave the United States.
The arrests in Minneapolis began on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said in its first statement about the operation. Officials did not provide a total number of arrests but provided information on 12 people arrested, five from Somalia and the others from Mexico and El Salvador.
In a statement, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin described them all as dangerous criminals with charges ranging from fraud, vehicle theft, sex crimes and drunken driving.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, strongly criticized Trump’s attacks on the city’s Somali population and on Thursday called on Americans to “love and respect” Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community, the largest in North America.
Trump’s racist rhetoric against Somalis and attacks on Minnesota politicians who defend Somalis have been praised by his allies. At a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he reacted to reports of government fraud among Minnesota’s large Somali population, calling immigrants there “trash” and saying he wanted them to “go back to where they came from.”
Anti-immigration rhetoric was a big part of Trump’s campaign. Since taking office in January, he has overseen an aggressive campaign by masked federal agents across the country in an effort to push deportations to record levels. Along the way, Trump’s public language when talking about immigrants has grown increasingly harsh.
New Orleans Crackdown
Also on Thursday, federal officials said they had arrested dozens of people in New Orleans, another Democratic-run city.
On the second day of operations in New Orleans, protesters disrupted a City Council meeting to demand that lawmakers declare city property an “ICE-free” zone where federal immigration agents cannot operate.
Protesters accuse federal agents of indiscriminately targeting people of color, including U.S. citizens with no criminal records, a charge the Department of Homeland Security denies.
New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said in a statement Wednesday that the operation created a culture of fear among the city’s most vulnerable residents.
“We must do all we can to protect New Orleans and ensure that due process is followed for all residents,” she said, announcing the creation of an online portal for citizens to report abuse by federal immigration officials.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, supports federal immigration enforcement efforts.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Donna Bryson and Stephen Coates)
