00:00Ilhan Omar pushes back amid ICE focus on Minneapolis' Somali community.
00:05Representative Ilhan Omar says scrutiny of Minneapolis' Somali community is misplaced,
00:11stressing most are U.S. citizens as ICE reportedly plans Twin Cities operations, according to Fox News.
00:18Omar discussed the issue on the Native Land Pod podcast,
00:21noting that many Somali immigrants in her district entered as refugees.
00:24We don't really have a lot of people who are undocumented, Omar said.
00:30She said most arrived with refugee status, gained green cards within a year, and became citizens within five years.
00:37She said ICE agents seeking undocumented people often encounter law-abiding residents showing proof of citizenship.
00:44She argued agents often make themselves look foolish, seeking a non-citizen in the community, calling it like a needle in a haystack.
00:52The heightened attention follows reports of fraud schemes involving Somali-led businesses in Minnesota.
00:58On Tuesday, the Small Business Administration announced an investigation into several Somali groups tied to an alleged COVID-19 relief fraud network.
01:07Omar told CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper that pandemic-era programs were created quickly and relied on third parties.
01:14And I just think that a lot of the COVID programs that were set up, they were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created, she said.
01:24Omar also addressed President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on her and the Somali-American community.
01:30In a guest essay for The New York Times, she described his rhetoric as rooted in bigotry, saying his focus on her was creepy and reflective of policy failures.
01:39The president's dehumanizing and dangerous attacks on minority immigrant communities are nothing new, she wrote.
01:47As ICE prepares enforcement plans, Omar insists the Somali community in Minneapolis is largely documented and law-abiding, pushing back against what she sees as unfair targeting.
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