Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) claimed that officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled over her son on Saturday and requested identification, though they left without incident.
“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,” Omar told a Minnesota-area radio station.
Omar, who is Somali American, also said that a week before the traffic stop, ICE officers were at a mosque where her son was praying but left without incident. Omar added that her son “always” carries his passport just in case he is stopped by federal immigration officers.
News of the traffic stop comes as immigration enforcement has been ramped up in Minnesota as part of what the Department of Homeland Security has dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.”
ICE officers have insisted they are not “targeting” Somalis in the operation, with DHS recently touting arrests of more than 400 illegal immigrants from various countries.
