• Tom Homan asserts the presence of an illegal Somali community in Minnesota.
• US Representative Ilhan Omar criticizes President Trump's derogatory remarks.
• Around 80,000 Somalis reside in Minnesota, mainly as U.S. citizens.

White House border czar Tom Homan defended President Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies, asserting on December 7 that Minnesota is home to a substantial illegal Somali community. This assertion comes despite local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, stating that most Somalis in the U.S. are American citizens. Homan denied allegations that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified deportation efforts in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area following Trump's derogatory comments about Somali immigrants, whom he referred to as "garbage," suggesting instead a focus on "public safety threats and national security threats" according to Reuters and Channel News Asia.

During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Homan maintained that ICE agents do not target individuals based on appearance, reinforcing Trump's statements about wanting to address illegal immigration in the region. Homan claimed, "We’re going to arrest every illegal alien that we find there," without presenting any substantiating evidence for his comments about the size of the illegal immigrant population. This position was similarly reported by India Times.

Representative Ilhan Omar, a prominent figure in Minnesota's Somali community and a frequent target of Trump's criticisms, voiced her disapproval of the president's statements. She described Trump's remarks as "completely disgusting," emphasizing that they unfairly dehumanize American citizens. "These are Americans that he is calling garbage," Omar reiterated, denouncing what she perceives as an obsession with the Somali community as highlighted in comments to CBS's "Face the Nation" and echoed in previous statements to Reuters and Channel News Asia.

Approximately 80,000 Somalis reside in Minnesota, the majority within the Minneapolis area, with many arriving as refugees due to Somalia's protracted civil conflict. The U.S. began granting visas to Somali refugees starting in 1992, a fact that underscores the long history of this immigrant community in the region. The growing fear of deportation has been criticized by some political leaders, such as Republican Senator John Curtis, who stated that a lack of transparency in ICE operations exacerbates anxiety among immigrant communities, according to India Times and Channel News Asia.