A lawful permanent resident from Somalia has described being encircled by four US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while taking his daily exercise in a San Diego park in mid-January, an encounter he believes was based on racial profiling. Mohamed, who uses a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation, said the officers wore jackets emblazoned with ICE and balaclavas covering their faces, demanding his green card and questioning his presence. He now suffers from high blood pressure and has stopped his daily routine.
The Guardian spoke to several US citizens and legal permanent residents who reported being racially profiled by ICE and US Customs and Border Protection agents in recent weeks, amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Community organisers said federal agents have targeted Black and brown neighbourhoods in Minnesota, New York, Washington state, California and Illinois, with patrols at Home Depot stores, mosques, daycares, street vending areas and construction sites. In response, organisations have increased training for detainment, installed signs attempting to ward off ICE, and distributed whistles for residents to alert neighbours.
Enforcement efforts have particularly focused on Somali communities. About 2,000 ICE officers and 800 Customs and Border Protection agents have been deployed in the Minneapolis area, which has the largest Somali population in the US. Arrests have also begun in Maine, targeting the thousands of Somalis settled there since the early 2000s. In addition, the administration announced that in March it would end temporary protected status for Somalis, which has provided work authorisation and deportation protection.
Legal recourse for challenging racial profiling is primarily through the Federal Tort Claims Act, which permits lawsuits against the federal government for harm caused by federal employees, according to Thomas A Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. However, a Supreme Court ruling in September 2025 allowed immigration agents in southern California to interrogate anyone they believed might be in the country illegally, noting that perceived race or ethnicity can be a relevant factor.
The number of people in immigration detention reached an all-time high, with ICE holding 68,990 people as of 8 January 2026. Saenz argued that imposing arrest and detention targets encourages unconstitutional shortcuts such as racial profiling, adding it was unclear whether the administration cares about constitutional compliance. In response, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called allegations of racial profiling "disgusting, reckless and categorically false", and said they contribute to a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against officers.
