Federal financial authorities announced investigations into alleged diof Minnesota state funds to foreign extremist organizations, citing recent reporting from conservative news outlets as the basis for their inquiry. The Treasury Secretary stated his agency would examine whether taxpayer dollars had been channeled to a terrorist group operating in East Africa.
This announcement came alongside broader administration efforts to increase immigration enforcement against Minnesota’s Somali community. The timing connects financial investigations to enforcement operations, with both initiatives targeting the same population and geographic area.
Presidential statements have explicitly characterized Somali immigrants in negative terms, with the nation’s leader expressing during official proceedings that he wants them removed from the country. The remarks extended to personal attacks on a congressional representative of Somali origin who is an American citizen representing Minneapolis constituents.
Federal immigration agencies are preparing significant enforcement operations in the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area, home to America’s largest Somali population. Plans call for assembling approximately 100 agents into specialized teams to execute deportation orders, primarily focused on Somali nationals.
Local officials in Minneapolis have pushed back against what they characterize as discriminatory targeting of their Somali community. City leaders emphasized that most of the 80,000 Somali residents hold legal status or citizenship, warned about potential constitutional violations, and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting all residents while maintaining local police independence from federal immigration enforcement.