Trump calls Somali immigrants, lawmaker Ilhan Omar ‘garbage’ amid intensified deportations

US President Donald Trump has launched a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants, calling them “garbage” that should be sent back home, as federal authorities prepare expanded deportation operations targeting the Somali community in Minnesota.

Trump made the provocative remarks during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, claiming that Somali immigrants are “contributing nothing” to the United States and that they should be sent back to their home country in Africa which he described as “stinking” and “no good for a reason.”

“They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you. We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said, referring to Somali immigrants.

The US president also attacked Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born congresswoman representing Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019, calling her “garbage” and arguing that accepting more Somali immigrants would send the US “the wrong way.”

Trump also claimed that Somalis “complain” despite coming from “hell” and insisted they should “go back” and fix their country.

“These are people who do nothing but complain. They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing … When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” he added.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration is escalating immigration enforcement in the Minneapolis–St Paul area—home to the nation’s largest Somali community—by deploying “strike teams” of roughly 100 ICE and federal agents focused on Somalis with final deportation orders.

Other outlets, including the Associated Press, confirmed the plan. The push follows right-wing attention on several fraud cases involving some Somali residents accused of falsely obtaining reimbursements for services such as meals, medical care, housing, and autism support.

The White House has previously threatened to end temporary protected status for Somali nationals, calling Minnesota a “hub” of fraudulent financial activity.

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department would investigate claims that Minnesota taxpayer funds were diverted to the militant group al-Shabaab, which is active in Somalia, citing a right-wing media report.

In response to what they called “credible reports” of intensified enforcement, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and city officials affirmed their support for the Somali community, stressing that local police do not participate in immigration operations and receive no advance notice of them.

Frey warned that targeting Somalis risks violating due process and could lead to the detention of US citizens “for no other reason than they look Somali.”

“To our Somali community, we love you and we stand with you. That commitment is rock solid,” her stressed.

The Midwestern state is home to about 80,000 Somalis, most of whom are citizens or legal residents.

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Trump moves to void Biden-era documents over autopen use

Additionally, Trump stressed on Tuesday that he is nullifying all documents, including pardons, that he said former president Joe Biden signed with an autopen, an unprecedented attempt to undo a predecessor’s actions on a legally shaky basis.

The autopen, used for decades by presidents of both parties for routine or high-volume signatures, is widely accepted as legally valid, and experts note that neither the Constitution nor federal law requires a president to hand-sign documents or pardons.

There is also no legal mechanism allowing one president to overturn another’s pardons. This is while Trump and his supporters have promoted unfounded claims that Biden’s use of the device invalidates his decisions, though it remains unknown whether Biden used an autopen for pardons.

“Anyone receiving ‘Pardons,’ ‘Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.

This move, however, would not affect Hunter Biden’s pardon, which is known to have been hand-signed.

Biden issued pardons for family members to shield them from politically driven investigations and granted commutations, including for nonviolent drug offenders. Other notable pardons covered figures such as Mark Milley, January 6 committee members, and former Republican representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

Trump, whose combative style often targets his rivals, has repeatedly attacked Biden for using an autopen to sign official documents during his presidency.

The US president’s effort defies long-standing precedent dating back to Thomas Jefferson-era signature devices and Justice Department guidance under George W. Bush affirming autopen signatures as legally equivalent.

Legal scholars have already emphasized that pardons do not even need to be written.

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