Minnesota Democratic leader Tim Walz criticised federal immigration enforcement after Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s son was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while returning from a shopping trip, calling the encounter “racial profiling”.In a post on X, Walz said: “Congresswoman Omar’s son was pulled over by ICE while he was following the law, on his way home from Target. This isn’t a targeted operation to find violent criminals, it’s racial profiling.”Omar told Minneapolis broadcaster WCCO that her son, whom she did not name, was pulled over on Saturday after leaving a Target store. “Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by [ICE] agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go,” she said. She added that he “always carries” his passport with him.Earlier the same day, ICE agents reportedly entered a mosque where her son had been praying but left without incident. Omar said she warned him to be careful because federal enforcement appears focused on areas with young Somali men. “They are racially profiling, they are looking for young men who look Somali that they think are undocumented,” she said.
‘Operation Metro Surge’
The stop comes amid “Operation Metro Surge”, a federal effort targeting undocumented Somalis and Latinos in the Twin Cities area. Omar is the first Somali American in Congress. She criticised the operation as racial profiling and accused President Donald Trump of inciting hate against Somalis and herself. She said: “I had to remind him just how worried I am, because all of these areas that they are talking about are areas where he could possibly find himself in.”Omar sent a letter to Homeland Security officials describing the enforcement as involving “blatant racial profiling, an egregious level of unnecessary force, and activity that appears designed for social media rather than befitting a law enforcement agency.”
