\n But a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, a federal official told CNN on Tuesday, will specifically target undocumented Somali immigrants in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The community, one of the largest in the US, is one of the few the president has focused on directly for years.\n <\/p>\n
\n Here\u2019s how we got here:\n <\/p>\n
Trump singles out Somalis after National Guard shooting, funding scandal<\/p>\n
\n In recent attacks against the Somali community, the president and his allies have frequently cited a $300 million fraud scandal that centered on Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit organization, and a Covid-19 program meant to provide free meals to needy kids.\n <\/p>\n
\n The vast majority of roughly 70 people<\/a> charged in the case are members of the state\u2019s Somali community, CNN has reported.\n <\/p>\n \n Prosecutors alleged defendants set up a network of shell companies connected to Feeding Our Future to exploit the federal child nutrition program, claiming to be feeding thousands of children per day but instead using the money to purchase luxury vehicles and real estate.\n <\/p>\n \n Thirty-seven defendants have pleaded guilty, according to the AP<\/a>. Five were convicted<\/a> in a group of defendants who were tried last year, the AP reported.\n <\/p>\n \n Trump referenced the scandal a week before Thanksgiving, calling Minnesota a \u201chub of fraudulent money laundering activity\u201d as he announced plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somali residents in the state.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cSomali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,\u201d Trump said on Truth Social.\n <\/p>\n \n Then, on the day of the National Guard shooting, Trump vowed to escalate his anti-immigration agenda after the suspect was identified as an Afghan national as he claimed the incident \u201cunderscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Lashing out at Somali immigrants in Minnesota, Trump claimed they were \u201cripping off our country and ripping apart that once-great state.\u201d He described Somalia as a country that has \u201cno laws, no water, no military, no nothing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Days later, Trump ended his Cabinet meeting on Tuesday by asserting he does not want Somali immigrants in the United States. He referred to the community and US Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant who represents Minnesotra, as \u201cgarbage\u201d who should \u201cgo back to where they came from.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But Trump has zeroed in on Minnesota\u2019s Somali population and rallied against Omar, who became the first Somali-American elected to Congress in 2018, for years.\n <\/p>\n \n Somalia was also on the travel ban list<\/a> during Trump\u2019s first presidential term. Under the Obama administration, several Muslim-majority nations, including Somalia, were identified as \u201ccountries of concern\u201d and subject to travel restrictions. Somalia had been added to address \u201cthe growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters,\u201d according to a DHS statement<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n When Trump took office, the restrictions turned into a travel ban.\n <\/p>\n \n At a rally in Minneapolis<\/a> in 2019, Trump challenged the case for allowing Somali refugees to settle in the North Star State as he touted his travel ban. \u201cFor many years, leaders in Washington brought large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n He went on to attack Omar, who represents the district where the rally took place, as a \u201cdisgrace.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Minnesota is home<\/a> to over 79,000 Somalis, roughly 80% of whom reside in the Twin Cities, according to the Minnesota Compass<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Citizens of Somalia were first granted Temporary Protected Status in 1991 when the country was plunged into chaos after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown. In 2013, the US officially recognized the Somali government in Mogadishu for the first time in two decades, CNN reported.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n Somalia has maintained TPS \u201cdue to insecurity and ongoing armed conflict that present serious threats to the safety of returnees,\u201d according to the legislation<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Omar condemned Trump\u2019s announcement in a news conference last week and spoke about the impact on her community: \u201cMany of these people we are talking about have built lives,\u201d she said. \u201cThey own homes, they own businesses, they are a vibrant part of our communities, and we want to make sure that their new home stays their forever home.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Somalia is one of 19 countries included in Trump\u2019s sweeping travel ban implemented this summer, which imposes full or partial restrictions. Many of the countries on the list are either failed states or under repressive rule, and some are governed by groups that took control after years of US involvement, CNN has reported.\n <\/p>\n \n In the wake of the National Guard shooting, Trump said the US will reexamine<\/a> all green cards issued to people from the 19 countries \u201cof concern.\u201d\n <\/p>\n Plans for operation targeting Somalis remain vague<\/p>\n \n The new ICE operation targeting undocumented Somali immigrants will focus on Minneapolis and St. Paul, a federal official told CNN on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n![\"Minneapolis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ap25336757978587-1.jpg\")
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