The city is home to more than 80,000 people of Somali descent. News of the operation comes as President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against the community, saying he did not want immigrants from Somalia in the U.S. because “they contribute nothing.”
Trump also continued his attacks on Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, [pictured here] who is of Somali descent, saying during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that Omar is “an incompetent person.”
It also comes as some in the community are under fraud investigations, including allegations that millions of dollars from Minnesota state welfare programs instead went to a terrorist group called al-Shabab in Somalia.
Omar told NewsNation she felt Trump’s comments on the Somali community were “totally irresponsible.”