Activists confronted a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood home to many Somali residents on Tuesday afternoon.

Protesters attempted to link hands and use vehicles to block ICE agents into a parking lot next door to Riverside Plaza.

Agents deployed pepper spray on protesters who blocked their vehicles and eventually left the area.

Federal agents launched an enforcement operation last week primarily focused on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., but fewer than half of those detained are Somali.

President Donald Trump recently targeted Somali immigrants in public remarks, calling them “garbage” and saying “they contribute nothing.” He also blamed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for allowing alleged fraud in government programs to happen on his watch, which a conservative publication claimed was funneling money to a Somali militant group.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, which has the nation's largest Somali community, is the latest area targeted by the Trump administration for mass deportations, following operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. This week, immigration authorities have also arrived in New Orleans, where officials said they intend to arrest up to 5,000 people.

The crackdown has drawn intense criticism from local and state officials who have denounced Trump's rhetoric and pledged to protect the Somali community. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said city police would not participate in federal immigration enforcement.