In Minneapolis, ICE clashes with Minnesotans who want them out

Long before you could see the crowd, you could hear them. The whistles and shouting carried blocks from the residential street in Minneapolis, where more than 70 people lined the sidewalk recording on their phones and hurling insults — and the occasional snowball — at a handful of  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and their vehicles.

An ICE agent then forced a protester to the ground. Then, a woman lunged at him and the agent raised a baton, the crowd then erupting in anger at the escalation. At some point during the confrontation, an ICE supervisor called the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for assistance.

“I got officers getting attacked,” said the supervisor, whose name was beeped out in a recording around 1:13 p.m. that was posted to X by the sheriff’s office. “We have 60 to 70 agitators that are fighting us.”

The deputies arrived, lining the sidewalk and watched as the crowd and the ICE officers moved from one end of the block to the other, past a car stopped on the street with its window broken. Deputies looked on as an ICE agent fired a few rounds of pepper balls into the street, sending some protesters and observers back in search of water to rinse their eyes.

The Department of Homeland Security’s latest immigration push into Minnesota, Operation Metro Surge, began Dec. 1.  It’s been met with significant pushback in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, with citizens saying they are standing in solidarity with the Somali and wider immigrant community that they say have been targeted by the raids — and by derogatory comments from the U.S. president.

In a public post, the Hennepin County sheriff’s office stated its deputies didn’t witness any attacks or agents needing medical attention and noted it doesn’t take part in civil immigration enforcement.

Gov. Tim Walz, the mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the Minneapolis police chief voiced their concerns about the new crackdown, which began after U.S. President Donald Trump called the Somali community in the city “garbage” and said ”we don’t want them in the country.

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S., at roughly 80,000 people, and most are American citizens. 

In its first two weeks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported it had arrested more than 400 people from different backgrounds including some Somalis. DHS said those arrested included “pedophiles, rapists and violent thugs.” 

Among those taken into custody was a 20-year-old American-born Somali man named Mubashir who was arrested on a lunch break. Though Mubashir was later released, the mayor condemned the arrest, and the head of the Minneapolis Police, which is not assisting, apologized to the man and called it embarrassing.

The American Civil Liberties Union is now representing Mubashir. In a statement to CBC News he said he “repeatedly told the agents that I was a U.S. citizen.” He said he attempted to show them his identification, but they “refused to even look at it.” Mubashir said he was brought to a detention facility because he is Somali-American. 

“Their treatment of me was cruel, unnecessary and wrong.” 

Too scared to leave the house

The crackdown has had a chilling effect; Somali businesses and cafes that are normally bustling are quiet.

“There’s people that aren’t leaving their house, because they’re scared of being mistaken for someone else and being captured,” said Farah, a member of the Somali community who is an American citizen. CBC News is only using his first name because he fears repercussions for himself and his family.

“There are people that have not gone out for groceries for days and weeks — and they’re citizens.”

Farah knows Mubashir and feels the weight of the last few weeks, saying he’s had trouble sleeping.

“It’s not normal for a president and a leader of an entire country — what considers itself the most well-developed country in the world — to be singling out a group of people and calling them garbage.”

Trump has repeatedly accused Somalis of stealing billions of dollars from Minnesota. It is true that dozens of Somali Americans — of the 80,000 living in the state — have been charged in a sprawling multi-million dollar fraud case involving a COVID-era funding program called Feed our Future. Since 2022, investigators have charged nearly 80 people, and the amount of funds believed to be stolen continues to balloon.

Farah said those crimes are real and those who committed them should be held accountable.

“But it uses that to draw a false conclusion. And that false conclusion is incredibly dangerous and incredibly insidious,” he said. 

“People commit crimes, people do bad things,” he said. “But there’s no way, there’s no actual justification to ascribe that behaviour to a large group of people.”

Organizing a response

Dieu Do is part of the group that trains local Minnesotans who want to be a part of rapid response groups. Those groups respond to reports of ICE raids and often film them and blow whistles to deter agents.

“Folks are really scared,” said Do. “Minnesotans feel very targeted, because we love our Somali community.” 

Since Trump’s remarks about Somalis, more than 500 people signed up for training — up from 115. The training session teaches would-be responders what their rights are and how to safely document raids.

“They’re everyday people … they’re restaurant owners, business owners, neighbours, teachers, nurses, health-care workers,” she said. 

Do believes the rapid response teams who have been showing up to ICE operations are having an effect.

“They know they have to be really quick about their pickups, because if they take longer and folks are noticing and the community starts showing up, they will back down,” she said.

Monday’s confrontation between responders and ICE agents happened in State Representative Aisha Gomez’s district. She stood in the crowd recording with her phone and ended up getting hit by a wave of wafting pepper pellet gas.

“I’ve been pepper-sprayed twice today. I’m not deterred. We’re standing up for our community,” Gomez said.

“We basically have secret police on our streets. They don’t identify themselves. They don’t observe the basic kind of protocols that law enforcement are supposed to,” she said.

“I don’t know how it ends, but I know that this community is saying no. They’re saying that our neighbours are important to us, and we’re not going to stand for their rights to be violated.

ICE alleges increased attacks on agents

The immigration crackdown does have its supporters in Minnesota. A number of Republicans have spoken in favour of it and eight county sheriff departments did sign agreements to work with ICE, although a recent decision from the state’s attorney general may change that.

In a statement to CBC News about Monday’s confrontation, ICE St-Paul said its officers were in the area conducting “a targeted vehicle stop.” They said they were attacked by a crowd of rioters “who threw rocks, chunks of ice, assaulted officers and used pepper spray against law enforcement officers” and that some of their agents sustained injuries.

ICE said it arrested two U.S. citizens for “assaulting federal officers.” It said they also apprehended  “two illegal aliens.” 

ICE said its officers are facing about 11 times more assaults against them — without citing a timeframe for the comparison — and called on “sanctuary politicians, agitators and the media to turn the temperature down and stop calling for violence and resistance.”