Area Minnesota police chiefs speak about Somalia immigration enforcement

MOORHEAD — Police in Moorhead and East Grand Forks are reassuring Somali residents that local law enforcement will not participate in federal immigration operations after ICE began targeting Somali immigrants in Minnesota .

The operations reportedly took place in the Twin Cities area. Both Moorhead and East Grand Forks have sizable Somali populations. Police chiefs in both cities said their departments had not been contacted about the operations.

“If ICE were to call and ask you to enforce immigration law, would you? We would not. That's not our role,” said Moorhead Police Chief Chris Helmick. He emphasized that his department’s role is to enforce local and state law. Immigration is a federal civil process, and officers would only get involved if someone were linked to a crime.

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