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Federal authorities are carrying out intensified operations this week in Minnesota as President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on the Somali community in the state. The administration halted green card and citizenship applications from Somalis and people from 18 other countries after last week's fatal shooting near the White House. During a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump went on a racist tirade against the Somali community, saying, "We don't want them in our country," and referring to Somali immigrants as "garbage." Minnesota has the largest Somali community in the United States, and the vast majority of the estimated 80,000 residents in the state are American citizens or legal permanent residents.
"We have seen vile things that the president has said, but in these moments, we need to come together and respond," says Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-Minnesota. He also highlights the connections between Trump's targeting of the community and foreign policy. "If you demonize Muslims, then you can get away with killing Muslims abroad. This has always been the case, from the Afghanistan War to the Iraq War."
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A major immigration crackdown is underway in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana, dubbed "Operation Catahoula Crunch" by the Trump administration. According to planning documents, 250 federal agents will aim to make 5,000 arrests over two months. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the operation will target "the worst of the worst," though the number of arrests being planned suggests that authorities will conduct broad sweeps including those who have no criminal records, as has happened in other immigration crackdowns.
"They're going to target whoever they can, and as the Supreme Court has unfortunately authorized them, they're using racial profiling as part of that approach," says Homero López, legal director for the New Orleans-based organization Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, or ISLA. "What they're doing is they're taking folks out of our community: our neighbors, our friends, our family members."
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(First column, 5th story, link)
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Amid escalating ICE raids in New York City, Democracy Now's Messiah Rhodes spoke to immigrants and advocates supporting newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers from West Africa with hot meals, legal advice and job training. "When I help the people here, the people will help me one day," Guinean immigrant Abdul Karim, a cook at Cafewal weekday kitchen, told Rhodes.
Murad Awawdeh, of the New York Immigration Coalition and a member of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team, also comments. He shares how the incoming mayoral administration can work to protect immigrants from Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.
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The president said he would weaken Biden-era mileage standards, which were designed to increase electric-vehicle sales, calling them a "scam."
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Zohran Mamdani will be taking office as mayor of New York in just five weeks. His transition team continues to make announcements about the new administration, recently unveiling a 400-person advisory group, broken up into 17 committees. Democracy Now! speaks with the incoming first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, on how Mamdani plans to implement his progressive vision. "Government, working together across agencies with clear direction, can accomplish the needs of New Yorkers, and that's what the mayor-elect has put forward," says Fuleihan.
Fuleihan also comments on Mamdani's meeting with President Trump, which was surprisingly warm. "We look for help wherever we can get it, while also maintaining our principles and defending New Yorkers," he said.
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