US border czar Homan defends immigration crackdown on Somalians

8/12/2025 6:28

White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the US state of Minnesota, saying the state is home to a large illegal Somali community despite local officials' comments that the vast majority of Somalis in the U.S. are American citizens.



Homan denied, however, that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had stepped up its deportation campaign in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in response to Trump's comments last week about Somali immigrants, whom the president called "garbage" that should be removed from the country.



Homan also said ICE agents are not targeting people based on their appearance.



U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Somali community's most high-profile member and a target of Trump's ire, on Sunday reiterated her criticism of the president's comments about Somalis.