Minnesota state senator and mayoral frontrunner Omar Fateh has pledged to block all cooperation between the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and federal immigration authorities, and to establish systems to warn immigrant communities ahead of any ICE raids/operations within the city.
In an explosive interview on Water Wave TV, Fateh, a Democratic Socialist and the first Somali American in the Minnesota Senate, accused city officials of “strategic failure” and “silence” after ICE and federal agents appeared unannounced in South Minneapolis earlier this year, creating fear and chaos among residents.
“We had ICE and multiple federal agents show up on the scene. And there was a level of anxiety and chaos that was caused by not only having ICE being there, but the lack of communication by the mayor’s office and MPD,” Fateh said. “Multiple elected officials, including myself, didn’t even hear about it from the city. We heard about it from community organizers on the ground.”
The senator said the June 3 incident near Lake and Bloomington in his district exposed a breakdown in communication and a disregard for Minneapolis’s “separation ordinance”, which bars local law enforcement from collaborating with federal immigration agencies.
“We need to strengthen our separation ordinance,” he said. “Whenever something like this happens, city council must be alerted immediately because they’re the connection point to the community.”
“We Will Alert Our Communities, Not ICE”
Fateh said that if elected mayor, his administration would work hand-in-hand with immigrant rights organizations to create early warning systems for undocumented residents whenever ICE activity is detected.
“The city cannot do it alone. We need to lock arms with organizations that are already doing the work – legal counseling, multilingual outreach, know-your-rights training,” he said. “Things are scary, and it’s going to get scarier. We have to protect our people.”
As chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, Fateh said he has seen “undocumented students getting picked up by ICE in the middle of the night,” calling the practice “unconstitutional” and “terrifying.”
“Families and lawyers don’t even know where they’re being detained,” he said. “We have a president who’s going to do whatever he wants. It’s scary for college presidents who fear losing federal funding just for supporting these students.”
Fateh Declares: “We Cannot Sacrifice Our Values”
Warning of renewed federal pressure under a potential Trump presidency, Fateh said local governments and universities must refuse to trade moral principles for federal funding.
“We’re being forced to choose – sacrifice your values or lose funding,” he said. “Under any circumstance, we cannot throw our most marginalized communities under the bus.”
He also condemned MPD’s past collaboration with ICE, referencing a leaked email that allegedly showed ICE thanking the police chief for escort assistance.
“Under no circumstance should MPD ever collaborate with ICE, not for escorts, not for crowd control, not for anything,” he said firmly.
A Radical Shift for Minneapolis
Fateh’s stance marks one of the strongest anti-ICE positions ever taken by a Minneapolis political leader, signaling a dramatic shift from Mayor Jacob Frey’s moderate policies.
“Minneapolis can have a different kind of politics,” he said. “Five years after George Floyd’s murder, [Mayor Frey] doesn’t have a plan or doesn’t intend to have one.”
If elected, Fateh has promised that Minneapolis will not only refuse to aid ICE but will actively warn residents before federal raids, potentially setting up a legal and political clash with Washington.
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