A 20 year old Minneapolis resident says he was “kidnapped” by ICE agents in broad daylight, even after he told them he was a U.S. citizen and offered his passport. The encounter, captured on video in the city’s Cedar Riverside neighborhood, has ignited outrage over aggressive immigration enforcement tactics on American streets.
The young man, identified only as Mubashir at his request, says he was just going about his day when officers swept into the neighborhood as part of an enforcement operation. According to his account, he immediately told the agents he was a U.S. citizen and tried to show proof but he says they didn’t care.
Mubashir told CBS News that he repeatedly informed the officers of his citizenship status and offered his passport as evidence. Instead of verifying his identity, he says, one of the agents grabbed him.
According to Mubashir, an ICE agent placed him in a headlock and forced him into a vehicle. At a press conference, he said the agent “never identified himself [and] didn’t say ‘ICE stop.’ I feel like I was getting assaulted, I was getting kidnapped”.
A bystander recorded part of the encounter on video, footage that was later played at the press conference where Mubashir opened up about what happened during the encourter. In the clip, the incident didn’t seem like your typical law enforcement stop and more like a snatch and grab, with neighbors reportedly shocked at how quickly it unfolded.
Media reports say agents transported Mubashir to a federal building several miles away, where he was held even after telling them, again, that he was a U.S. citizen. He says it was only once he was finally allowed to produce his passport that the mistake became undeniable.
MINNEAPOLIS: “All I did was step outside as a Somali American citizen, and I got chased by a masked person, assaulted, kidnapped. It was inhumane. If this is what’s happening to a 🇺🇸 citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones.” pic.twitter.com/IwWWFzfWGl
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) December 11, 2025
By then, he had already been detained, restrained, and taken from his neighborhood against his will.
Mubashir described the experience as not just humiliating but terrifying. He added that the ICE agents refusing to identify themselves made the entire encounter feel like being attacked by criminals rather than an official stop. His feeling of being ‘kidnapped’ speaks to the fear of suddenly being overpowered and whisked away with no real explanation.
The incident raises questions about how far immigration agents will go during enforcement operations, and how easily an American citizen can find himself caught up in it. It comes amid multiple reports of Americans being harassed and even arrested by ICE agents.
The immigration enforcement agency has embarked on an aggressive recruitment campaign, offering a $50,000 signing bonus. The result has been quantity over quality, with some applicants being unfit and without the ability to read or write, per reports.
Mubashir’s encounter with ICE comes after Trump went scorched earth on the Somali community, referring to them as “garbage.” This has put a target on the 100,000 that live in Minneapolis, with several arrests and fear in those who feel anxious about looking Somali.
