A US citizen, who is Somali, was detained by immigration agents in Minneapolis on Tuesday after he repeatedly offered to hand over his identification, according to the man, a local elected official, and legal advocates. Mubashir, 20, who has chosen to go by his first name only, said at a news conference that he “felt targeted.”
A video of the incident published by the Sahan Journal shows a federal agent putting Mubashir in a headlock while handcuffed, bringing him to his knees in the snow, and forcefully placing him in the back of a vehicle before driving off. Multiple people chased after the vehicle, with one witness to the detainment standing in front of the car. Prior to the recording, Mubashir said that the immigration agents chased him on foot in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.
“I deserve to be here like anyone else. I’m a U.S. citizen,” Mubashir said. “I can’t even step outside without being tackled—no question—because I’m Somali.”
Before grabbing Mubashir, according to Sahan Journal, the agents were walking into nearby businesses in the Somali-heavy neighborhood, questioning people and asking them to show their passports.
Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement descended upon the twin cities last week in what federal officials are calling “Operation Metro Surge.” The operation is primarily targeting the Somali immigrants in the area, spurring locals to carry around their passports or even fear going outside at all, according to the New York Times. This week, Trump repeatedly referred to people from Somalia as “garbage.” The president said Somalia “stinks” and that immigrants from the country “come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch.” “We don’t want them in our country,” he said multiple times.
According to Mubashir, while en route to the immigration offices, which were about twenty minutes away, he repeatedly asked the agents to show his identification. But, he said, they refused.
Once they arrived at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Mubashir said that the agents took his fingerprints, asked to take his photo, which he refused, and then eventually allowed him to show ID proving his US citizenship. Then, Mubashir, who has lived in Minneapolis since he was a year old, was allowed to leave.
“I asked them, ‘can you take me back to where you picked me up from?’ They said ‘no, you have to walk in the snow,’” Mubashir said. His parents then came to get him.
“I apologize that this happened to you in my city, with people wearing vests that say ‘police.’ That’s embarrassing,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a press conference.
“This young man is a bright, hardworking member of our community,” Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman said in a statement “and his experience is a stark reminder of the overreach and lack of accountability in ICE operations.”
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which organized the press conference where Mubashir shared his story, said they have received many calls from local Somali residents who are US citizens reporting that they were either arrested or questioned by immigration agents. “We believe this is a violation of our constitution,” Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN, said. Hussein said that at least two other US citizens were picked up by immigration officials and then released on Tuesday.
In a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem following these arrests, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz urged her to review all recent arrests in Minnesota. “The forcefulness, lack of communication and unlawful practices displayed by your agents will not be tolerated in Minnesota,” Walz told Noem in his letter.
According to a ProPublica investigation published in October, more than 170 US citizens were detained and held against their will—whether during immigration raids or protests—in the first nine months of Trump’s second term.
A representative from the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to Mother Jones’ request for comment on whether its immigration agents detain people without checking identification that is actively being offered.
