Sharp rise in deportation orders for Somalis in Minnesota

More than 500 Somalis in Minnesota have been ordered deported this year as the Trump administration speeds up asylum hearings and narrows paths to legal protection.

The Bishop Henry Whipple Building during Operation Metro Surge. (Christopher Magan/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

More than 1,000 Somali asylum-seekers have been ordered deported since February, reflecting the Trump administration’s continued follow-through on last winter’s federal enforcement action in Minnesota.

More than half the deportation orders involve Somalis living in Minnesota, a nearly tenfold increase from 2025, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune analysis of federal data.

More than 500 Somali immigrants from Minnesota were issued removal orders this year. Some have already been deported. Others have been sent to detention centers as far away as Guantánamo Bay, Cuba including at least two from Minnesota.

Immigration attorney Marc Prokosch characterized sending people to the notorious military detention camp as a “political scare tactic.” Prokosch represented four men who were told they were being deported to Somalia but spent nearly a month at Guantánamo Bay before being flown to Africa.

“Think of the taxpayer dollars it takes to do this,” Prokosch said. “They are using every lever possible to terrorize and scare people.”

Few Somali asylum seekers have felony convictions, but a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin were protecting American citizens from criminals.

“If you come to our country illegally, you could end up in Guantánamo Bay or even another third country,” the Homeland Security spokesperson said.

Somali asylum case outcomes under President Trump

Operation Metro Surge was the beginning of an ongoing campaign by immigration officials to fast-track cases involving Somali asylum seekers. Case decisions and removal orders have skyrocketed in 2026.

Last December, Trump justified Operation Metro Surge to combat “Somali bandits” accused of defrauding social services programs.