Prof. Ana Pottratz Acosta Quoted by BBC About Why So Many Federal Agents Deployed to Minnesota

Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta was quoted by BBC News about why the large deployment of immigration agents were sent to Minnesota. But according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) published in 2025, the state hosts just 0.7% of the estimated 13.7 million undocumented migrants who remain in the country. The biggest target in Minnesota for Donald Trump has been Somali residents. Prof. Pottratz Acosta said that most Somalis in the state are U.S. citizens, either because they were born in the United States or because they went through the naturalization process after arriving in the country as refugees in the 1990s. Therefore, ICE’s recent actions focused on the Somali community because of the fraud scandal “have not produced many results” and now “they are more focused on the Latino community.” In addition, Prof. Pottratz Acosta said that another reason for the unprecedented deployment is a political rivalry with Governor Walz. She said, “I think part of the reason Trump chose the state of Minnesota to undertake these immigration (ICE) actions is that he has a problem with our governor.”