2025-12-13 00:00:00 Mubashir baru saja melangkah keluar menuju cuaca musim dingin Minneapolis yang bersalju untuk istirahat makan siang ketika dia mengatakan dia melihat seorang petugas federal bertopeng berlari ke arahnya âdengan kecepatan penuh.â
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Follow Mubashir had just stepped outside into the snowy Minneapolis winter weather to take his lunch break when he says he saw a masked federal officer running toward him âat full speed.â Within seconds, the agent had tackled the 20-year-old Somali American, forced him into the back hallway of a building and restrained him, according to Mubashirâs account and video footage of the incident.
He did not want his last name released publicly due to privacy concerns.
âI told him, âIâm a US citizen.
What is going on?â He didnât seem to care,â Mubashir said at a news conference with city leaders Wednesday.
âHe dragged me outside through the snow while I was handcuffed, restrained, helpless.â The young man was handcuffed by two agents, one of whom put him in a chokehold while he was on his knees on the snow-covered street before forcing him into a gray SUV that appeared to be unmarked as onlookers yelled out in protest, video shows.
Related article Minnesota, Minneapolis, St.
Paul, elevated skyline from Mississippi River Walter Bibikow/Alamy Stock Photo/File After years of Trumpâs attacks on Somalis in Minnesota, ICE zeroes in on the Twin Cities.
Hereâs whatâs fueling the operation Mubashir said the agents interrogated him about his immigration status and took him to a federal facility as he repeatedly asserted heâs a US citizen, tried to show them a digital copy of his passport and pleaded with them to let him go.
The violent detainment in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on Tuesday has become another flashpoint in the Trump administrationâs new immigration enforcement operation targeting undocumented Somali immigrants in Minneapolis and St.
Paul as part of its sweeping deportation push that has led to a surge of federal agents in blue cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers question a man's status on Lake Street near a Somali mall called the Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Christopher Juhn/Anadolu/Getty Images Local and state leaders in Minnesota have decried the operation for singling out the nationâs largest population of people from Somalia who they say are vital to the fabric of the state.
As reports of US citizens being detained in the sweeps accumulate, Somalis in the Twin Cities are grappling with rippling fears and heightened anxieties as the federal presence looms over their community, against the backdrop of President Donald Trumpâs rhetorical attacks describing them as âgarbageâ who should âgo back to where they came from.â âAll I did was step outside as a Somali American, and I just got chased by a masked person,â said Mubashir.
When asked about the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents were having a âconsensualâ conversation with a suspected undocumented immigrant near a location that has âa high level of criminal activityâ when Mubashir âwalked out of a nearby restaurant, turned around, and fled from law enforcement.â The agents, having âreasonable suspicion,â chased the man who âviolently resisted officers and refused to answer questions,â DHS said.
Mubashir, however, has said he was âsimply standing stillâ after initially turning around when he saw a vehicle pull up.
Video shows Mubashir and the agent bursting into the building hallway after Mubashir appears to open the door.
The agent then pushes Mubashir against some fencing and can be heard asking, âWhy are you running?â A second agent then joins them and appears to help restrain Mubashir, who can be heard repeating âIâm a citizenâ and screaming.
Several people then come into the hallway from outside and begin filming the interaction and whistling before the agents pull Mubashir outside, video shows.
âA large crowd of agitators descended and began to threaten the officers,â DHS continued.
âFor their safety, they temporarily detained the individual to safely finish asking their questions.
Once officers finished their questioning, he was promptly released.â Minnesota Gov.
Tim Walz has called for a review of all recent federal arrests in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, expressing concern over the detentions of Mubashir and other US citizens, including some who he said were reportedly documenting federal activity.
His letter came ahead of Noemâs testimony before a contentious House committee hearing Thursday in which she faced tough questioning on the administrationâs immigration policies and reports of citizens being detained.
Surveillance video from Sagal Restaurant and Coffee showing when ICE officers detained Mubashir.
Sagal Restaurant and Coffee He thought he was getting âkidnappedâ Mubashir said he has lived in the United States since he was four years old and never expected he would one day be âstanding in front of all these cameras and microphones.â But after what happened to him, he said, he couldnât stay quiet.
Mubashir likened his treatment by the agents to getting âkidnappedâ and described the incident as an assault.
âIt was inhumane.
They dragged me across the road, they slammed me to the ground, choked me.
That was uncalled for,â he continued.
The federal agents who detained Mubashir refused his repeated attempts to show them a copy of his passport on his phone or provide his name and date of birth to prove his citizenship, he said.
Instead, they insisted he allow them to take a photo of him to make the verification, according to Mubashir.
âI declined, because how will a picture prove Iâm a US citizen?â he said, before eventually letting them âscanâ his face.
Related article A woman and a child hold hands as they walk down a street in the predominantly Somali neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis, in May 2022.
Jessie Wardarski/AP Scorned by the president, Somalis in Minnesota are embraced by the state that took them in After several failed attempts to scan Mubashirâs face and fingertips, the agents transported him to the detention center at Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, which houses an immigration court and Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, he said.
There, he asked for water and medical assistance for his numb hands and injured back, but his requests were declined, Mubashir added.
DHSâs statement did not address these allegations.
It wasnât until a woman âfinallyâ listened to Mubashir that he was allowed to use his phone and show his digital passport copy as proof of his citizenship, he said.
He was then released after two hours in custody, but when he asked agents to drive him back to where they took him into custody, they told him to walk back in the snow, Mubashir said.
His parents eventually came to pick him up.
âIf this is whatâs happening to a US citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones when thereâs no one around to witness what theyâre doing,â he said.
âThankfully, my incident was caught on camera.â Mayor Jacob Frey, center, speaks at a news conference alongside Mubashir, right, and Police Chief Brian O'Hara, left, at Minneapolis City Hall on Wednesday.
WCCO DHS slams allegations of racial profiling The cityâs police chief apologized to Mubashir for what happened to him, âin my city with people wearing vests that say police.â But itâs just one chapter in a larger volume of stories heâs seen in recent days, raising concerns about questionable methods by federal agents that officials are sifting through, Chief Brian OâHara said at the news conference.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city is âdemanding accountabilityâ and immediate changes to how the federal immigration operation is being carried out in Minneapolis, while he assured the Somali community that they have the âfull support of this city government behind them.â DHS said allegations from city leaders and other community members that federal agents are engaging in âracial profilingâ as they carry out immigration enforcement duties are âdisgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.â âWhat makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.âNOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,â the DHS statement reads.
The agency said agents are âtrained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removabilityâ when they encounter people subject to arrest.
Related article A person is detained by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and other federal law enforcement agents in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 3, 2025.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday it has launched a federal immigration enforcement operation, named "Operation Catahoula Crunch," in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area.
(Photo by Adam GRAY / AFP via Getty Images) Adam Gray/AFP/Getty Images On opposite sides of the country, the same fear descends on immigrant communities When explaining the immigration push targeting undocumented Somalis, DHS has cited âwidespread fraud, particularly marriage fraud, when it comes to immigration.â Trump has also referenced a $300-million fraud scandal in Minnesota in which dozens of people â the vast majority of them of Somali descent â were charged.
The scandal, which diverted money meant to feed children during the pandemic to fraudsters, is one of numerous Covid-19 fraud schemes identified nationwide.
Mubashirâs detainment âunderscores the urgent need for greater oversight and reform in immigration enforcement practices,â said City Council member Jamal Osman, a Somali immigrant who represents many migrants in his district.
Osman called Mubashir a âbright, hardworking member of our communityâ and said in a statement his experience is a âstark reminder of the overreach and lack of accountability in ICE operations.â Walz also highlighted Mubashirâs experience and other reports of US citizens being detained by federal immigration agents while âgoing about their daily livesâ or documenting federal activity, in the letter to Noem.
He urged the DHS secretary to hold federal agents who may have acted unlawfully accountable.
âThe forcefulness, lack of communication, and unlawful practices displayed by federal agents will not be tolerated in Minnesota,â the governor wrote.
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