Somalis Get Bad News in Minnesota

Deportation orders for Somali nationals have surged in Minnesota this year as the Trump administration speeds up immigration cases and presses a wider enforcement crackdown.

A Minnesota Star Tribune analysis of federal immigration data found that more than 1,000 Somali asylum-seekers nationwide have been ordered deported since February. More than half of those orders involve Somalis living in Minnesota, a nearly tenfold increase from 2025.

More than 500 Somali immigrants from Minnesota have received removal orders in 2026. Some have already been deported. Others have been transferred to detention facilities outside the state, including Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The increase followed a series of administration moves, including the end of Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals and faster immigration-court hearings for asylum cases. The vast majority of Minnesota’s Somali population consists of U.S. citizens or legal residents. Only a small share had been covered by Temporary Protected Status.

Immigration attorneys have attacked the tactics, especially transfers to Guantánamo Bay. “Think of the taxpayer dollars it takes to do this,” attorney Prokosch said. “They are using every lever possible to terrorize and scare people.”

The Department of Homeland Security has defended the crackdown as enforcement of existing law against people who no longer have permission to remain. “If you come to our country illegally, you could end up in Guantánamo Bay or even another third country,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said.

The enforcement push accelerated after Operation Metro Surge began in Minnesota last December. Federal immigration agents detained roughly 3,800 people during that operation, according to data collected by the Deportation Data Project. Just over 100 of those arrested were Somali nationals.

In February, officials set up an expedited process that immigration attorneys dubbed the “rocket docket,” allowing judges to hear Somali cases quickly through remote proceedings. Cases that had been set far in the future were moved onto much shorter timelines. The Star Tribune reported that nearly every Somali removal decision in the first eight months of 2026 involved immigrants placed on that docket.

An immigration court spokesperson pointed to the federal expectation that asylum applications be resolved within 180 days when possible. “Unnecessary delay hurts both aliens with meritorious claims and the American public who wish to see aliens with non-meritorious claims removed as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Another attorney, Ahmed, said the changes have unsettled families. “This has been much more dangerous and harmful to families,” he said. Federal authorities have also used third-country agreements to remove some immigrants to nations other than their country of origin.

“Third country agreements are helping close one of the loopholes in our immigration system that has far too often been abused with false claims,” ICE said. The agency also defended a Guantánamo transfer, saying “this flight of illegal aliens to Guantánamo Bay included some of the worst of the worst with criminal histories including aggravated assaults, weapons offenses, robbery,” and other charges.

Despite the rise in removal orders, some Somali applicants are still winning protection. Of the 148 Somali applicants who prevailed in 2026, more than 70 percent were women, with threats involving female genital mutilation among the grounds on which asylum has been granted. The national asylum backlog remains about 2.3 million pending applications.