Exclusive: Minnesota kept convicted Somali drug trafficker from ICE

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday confirmed that Minnesota authorities refused to honor an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer for a Somali illegal alien convicted of aggravated assault and drug trafficking.

Mustafa Abdirahman Abdi entered the U.S. at an unknown time and was first arrested by ICE in 2020. He received a removal order in 2021, but the Biden administration released him. His criminal convictions include aggravated assault and drug trafficking.

ICE lodged a detainer with Minnesota authorities on Oct. 24 for Abdi, who was incarcerated in Hennepin County Jail at the time. But Minnesota authorities declined to honor the detainer and released Abdi.

“Governor Tim Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians have turned the state of Minnesota into a hotbed of illegal alien crime,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “When ICE lodged a detainer for an illegal alien convicted for aggravated assault and drug trafficking, Minneapolis sanctuary politicians refused to cooperate and RELEASED him. Governor Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and other heartless sanctuary politicians are putting American lives at risk for political gain. DHS is calling on sanctuary politicians to put an end to this recklessness before any more lives are lost.”

Abdi is currently on the streets and ICE is seeking information on his whereabouts.

Refusal to honor ICE detainers is a hallmark policy of sanctuary jurisdictions. DHS has since launched a new series, entitled "sanctuary insanity," with the aim of documenting 

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.