Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Newsmax on Monday they are prepared to deport Somalis in Minneapolis if their Temporary Protected Status is officially lifted.
President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account Friday he is terminating Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota.
Trump's announcement comes after millions of dollars in stolen Minnesota welfare funds were allegedly diverted by members of the state's Somali community to an overseas terrorist group linked to al-Qaida, the City Journal reported Wednesday.
Secretary Kristi Noem said the Department of Homeland Security must officially begin the process before the TPS can be lifted.
Lyons told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" they are ready to act.
"When someone's temporary protective status is lifted, they are now illegal aliens," Lyons said. "They're here in the country illegally."
"And we will go ahead and remove those criminal elements out of our neighborhoods."
Lyons said people fraudulently using the asylum process to come into the country take away from the people who want to be here lawfully.
"If temporary protective status is lifted for the Somali community… we're going to go ahead and remove those elements out of our country," Lyons said.
"We have to ensure we remove those people from our communities," Lyons continued.
The acting ICE director said anyone who comes here under false pretense, "100%, we're going to remove you."
"ICE was an organization born out of 9/11," Lyons said. "The 9/11 terrorists came here under fraud pretense."
"You don't know who the people we are letting in," Lyons said. "We have to make sure we do our due diligence."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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