Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar claimed Sunday on CBS local outlet WCCO that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents pulled over her son Saturday evening but allowed him to leave after he showed proof of citizenship.
Tensions in Minnesota have grown as media attention focused on Somali immigrants in the state following the uncovering of a massive welfare fraud scandal in December. Speaking on “WCCO Sunday Morning” with Esme Murphy, Omar accused ICE of pulling over her 20-year-old son after he made a stop at Target, before releasing him once he produced his passport.
“But yesterday after he made a stop at a Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” Omar said.
Murphy then asked Omar whether her son had gone into Target with his passport on Saturday evening, to which the Democratic lawmaker said he always carries it with him.
“In case he gets pulled over?” Murphy asked.
“Yes,” Omar responded.
ICE did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment before publication.
Murphy also asked Omar, prior to her claims, about fears of ICE raids in Minneapolis, as the congresswoman said she had been concerned about the restaurant her son frequents.
“It was last Friday and, you know, typically my son goes to Friday prayers with his friends and then they all go and eat at their favorite restaurant in Cedar Riverside. I knew, you know, I saw videos earlier in the day from Representative Mahmoud Noor and others that there were— the ICE agents were in Cedar,” Omar said. “So I kept calling my son to see if he was okay, if he had any run-ins with him and he wasn’t answering.”
“And eventually that night I did get a chance to talk to him and I had to remind him just how worried I am because all of these areas that they’re talking about are areas where he could possibly find himself in,” Omar added. “And they are racially profiling. They are looking for young men who look Somali that they think are undocumented. My son was born here, so it was the young man that they harassed, and he did say, you know, they did come into the masjid [Muslim house of worship] while he was there praying. They didn’t do anything.”
The spotlight on Minnesota came after employees of the state’s Department of Human Services accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of being responsible for their local social services programs being drained after he allegedly ignored whistleblowers’ claims that $1 billion in funds were funneled through fraudulent operations.
ICE operations targeting Minneapolis, known as the Twin Cities, in Minnesota were confirmed to be underway Dec. 9 by CBS News, with hundreds of people allegedly expected to be targeted, the outlet reported.
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