Unexpected ICE screenings and traffic stops continue to alarm American citizens. Many of these incidents appear to target Somali Americans in Minnesota. President Trump has previously referred to them as ‘garbage’ in the country. Shockingly, the ICE agents tend to misidentify, leading to raising broader questions about racial profiling. A similar incident occurred recently when U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar revealed that her son was pulled over by ICE during a visit to Target.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said her son was pulled over outside the store. The agents said they were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her son asked by the officers to provide proof of his citizenship by the officials, after which he was allowed to leave.
Recalling the unexpected encounter, she said, “Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents. Once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar CONFIRMS ICE pulled over her son.
DHS is actively investigating Omar for potential immigration fraud.
They forced him to prove his identification. pic.twitter.com/PmaknYL12F
— BùTtęrß Tøó 🇺🇸 (@ButtersToo2) December 15, 2025
Ilhan Omar immigrated to the United States from Somalia at the age of 12. The move came during Somalia’s civil war, which made the move necessary. As a result, she concluded that these weren’t random ICE roundups, but targeted specifically targeting members of her community – Somali Americans.. She further stated, “They are looking for young men who look Somali that they think are undocumented.”
This is not the first time that Ilhan Omar has talked about the disadvantages faced by people of her community. In a detailed letter to DHS, she reported ICE agents entering a mosque where her son was present. It led her to conclude that the actions followed a pattern, targeting Somali spaces alone.
Her letter to DHS also demanded answers regarding President Trump’s pledge to immediately end legal protections for Somalis living in Minnesota. Well, the administration has also sought to end similar privileges and protections for other communities. These include Haitians, Afghans and Venezuelans living in the United States.
In Minnesota alone, around 80,000 Somali Americans are believed to live, which makes them an easy target for these unannounced screenings. On the other hand, the Department of Homeland Security did not directly respond to the claims made by Omar. But one of their administrative officials had previously clarified that it was inaccurate to believe that the ICE was specifically targeting Somali immigrants.
As a result, there has been a recent surge of ICE enforcement in Somali neighborhoods, homes and businesses across Minnesota. Driven by what critics describe as a focus on a single community, the federal agency operates by randomly detaining such citizens, despite their status as U.S. citizen. In fact, legal advocates have articulated that the agency is on the lookout for Somali descendants based on their physical appearance, irrespective of the status of their citizenship.
The remarks echo a statement Trump made last week to a group of reporters in Pennsylvania. Speaking about Somali immigrants, he had said, “We always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
In response, Ilhan Omar pushed back at Trump’s interview and stated, “Here in the United States, we don’t blame the crimes of an individual on a whole community. We are, as Minnesotans, also outraged, the fact that our tax dollars were defrauded.”
