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Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said Sunday city police would not cooperate with a federal Immigration enforcement operation launched in the wake of a growing fraud scandal in Minnesota.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is surging into the Minneapolis area to target illegal immigrants from Somalia after revelations into at least $1 billion in fraud, some of which reportedly went to the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Frey claimed during the interview that ICE had launched a “chaotic operation” and that local authorities would not assist.

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“Our police officers will not coordinate with ICE or any federal agency around Immigration law enforcement work,” Frey said. “Now, we do work with federal agents around important criminal activity, narcotics, gun violence. We arrest perpetrators of violent crime, but we will not work with federal agents around Immigration law enforcement. Why? Because we’ve seen the unconstitutionality of it, we’ve seen the chaotic nature that it creates, we know that it breaks apart families that make Minneapolis better, and we want nothing to do with it.”

State employees accused Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers who warned of the fraud schemes Sunday as the Justice Department is prosecuting multiple federal cases. Walz admitted during a Nov. 30 appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the state “attracts criminals,” but demanded that Somali residents not be demonized.

Trump announced he would end “Temporary Protected Status” for Somalis in Minneapolis in response to the allegations, and also said that the influx of refugees had “destroyed our country.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara apologized at a Nov. 20 press conference after he earlier discussed crime by “groups of East African kids” during a Nov. 11 interview with local outlet WCCO. Democratic City Councilman Jamal Osman of Minneapolis was carjacked Nov. 10, days after winning reelection on a platform that included “restorative justice” and “violence prevention programs.”

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