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Pepper Spray Used in Minneapolis as ICE Intensifies Immigration Sweep

City officials describe a discriminatory impact from Operation Metro Surge in Somali neighborhoods.

Overview

  • An AP videographer and a city council member witnessed federal agents pepper-spraying a crowd that blocked vehicles after ID checks in a heavily Somali area.
  • Mayor Jacob Frey signed an executive order barring federal staging on city property, and Minneapolis police will not work with the federal operation.
  • ICE says 19 people have been taken into custody since the operation began, including eight Somalis, and DHS insists targeting is based on immigration status.
  • Witnesses reported at least one Somali American was detained and later released after showing a U.S. passport, while ICE said it made no arrests in that neighborhood that day.
  • Roughly 100 federal agents were deployed to the Twin Cities for Operation Metro Surge following President Trump’s attacks on Somalis and his claim he would end their TPS.