Why are ICE agents in Minneapolis?published at 19:25 GMT
19:25 GMT
The Trump administration deployed an additional 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area in recent weeks in response to allegations of welfare fraud in the state, sources told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
The deployment, which began on Sunday, is one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in a US city in recent years.
It follows an immigration enforcement campaign launched by ICE in late 2025 to target individuals in Minneapolis who were issued deportation orders, including members of the Somali community in the city.
That community has been frequently criticised by US President Donald Trump, who has called them “garbage”.
“I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you,” the president has said. “Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks.”
Trump later doubled-down on his remarks after a YouTube video by a conservative content creator accused Somali-run day care centres of fraud.
“Send them back from here the came,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. He also withheld federal child care funds to the state of Minnesota in response.
The Trump administration has sent ICE agents to other cities as well, all part of a widespread crackdown on what they say is unlawful immigration in the US.