Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said people should be prepared to prove their citizenship if federal immigration authorities ask them during enforcement operations.
Noem was asked by a reporter on Friday why Americans are being asked to provide proof of citizenship in Minnesota, and whether she advises Americans to carry proof of citizenship.
“In every situation, we are doing targeted enforcement,” Nome told reporters. “If we are on a target, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity.”
Her comments come as the Trump administration has increased its federal law enforcement presence in Minnesota.
Validating someone’s identity is what “we’ve always done,” according to Noem.
“Asking people who they are so we know who is in those surroundings and if they are breaking our federal laws, we will detain them as well until we run that processing,” she said.
Some critics, such as Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, have disagreed with Noem’s stance.
“This is simply not true; in Los Angeles, for example, DHS officers outright admitted to doing ‘roving patrols,’ which are NOT targeted,” he commented on X. “Similarly, if an officer is doing a targeted operation and then detours to interrogate random people walking by, the latter is NOT targeted.”
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in which three Minnesotans challenge the administration’s policy of racially profiling and unlawfully arresting people without a warrant or probable cause. In one instance, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen was walking in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis when he was stopped by ICE agents. Even though he told the agents that he was a U.S. citizen, they refused to look at his ID, the lawsuit alleged.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 12 that alleged several cases in which individuals were asked for proof of citizenship, including one where federal agents surrounded and questioned a driver about his citizenship status at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. In another instance, DHS agents questioned a group of Minneapolis Public Works employees about their citizenship, according to the lawsuit.
The Trump administration has consistently defended its efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and crime, specifically in Minnesota, where federal prosecutors alleged rampant fraud connected to members of the Somali community.
“ICE isn’t the problem,” Noem said during a Jan. 11 interview on Fox News. “The problem is sanctuary politicians and the violent criminal illegal aliens they protect. President Trump and this administration work to protect every single American and make sure that they can live in a safe community and can raise their kids without fear.”
