Onumba.com – It’s all over.
But the fallout of Operation Metro Surge is just beginning and the surge of agony in it’s wake has left many angry and asking, why go this far?
How far ——–? Far enough that two citizens —- Renee Good and Alex Pretti —- lost their lives in ghastly raids by federal officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stoking anger and mass protests that resulted in more than 4,000 arrests.
The shootings of Good and Pretti provoked intense public backlash that has deepened the hostility towards ICE across the country. Local leaders decried the operation as an “invasion” that traumatized residents and disrupted community activities in the area. According to a recent poll conducted by AP – NORC, most Americans deplore ICE operations in Minnesota, saying that it went too far.
But the poll only confirmed the optics of these deadly raids that had loomed over the operation from the outset. As criticisms piled on, the Trump administration quietly reflected on its actions, prompting the decision to pull ICE officers out of Minnesota ——— torpedoing a heavy-handed crackdown on undocumented immigrants that started nearly two months.
But despite the kibosh of the operation, a rarity for Trump, the United States border czar Tom Homan showered praises on ICE and the operation, lauding it as a “success.”
“The surge is leaving Minnesota safer, “said Homan. Perhaps, anticipating many to disagree, he preemptively doubled-down on his remarks, saying “I’ll say it again, it’s less of a sanctuary state for criminals.”
But no word from Homan on the fact that the state is reeling from two senseless deaths.
Democrat and former Vice-Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz, who has a history of epic clashing with Trump, going back to the recent bruising presidential election, obviously disagreed with Homan.
All of this is “unnecessary, unwarranted and in many case unconstitutional assault on our state,” he said, in a news conference.
“It’s going to be a long road, “said Walz, calling Minnesotans “decent, caring neighbors.”
ICE operation in Minnesota concentrated largely in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area where the Somali population has soared to being the largest concentration of Somali immigrants in the country ——— followed by neighboring mid-western city of Columbus. It is estimated that 80,000 Somali immigrants reside in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
Trump has intensified his hateful rhetorics on the Somali community, recently saying, “I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you…their country is no good for a reason.” Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant, is often the target of the president’s vicious vitriols that have led to death threats against her. She has state protection.
Cracking down on undocumented immigrants was the linchpin of Trump’s campaign. This operation kicked off after ICE stormed Chicago and Los Angeles, cities with significant immigrant population, and then Minnesota where it fizzled out with a gruesome ending ———- though Homan is threatening more of the same in other cities, and as he phrased it, to achieve the “mass deportation” of undocumented immigrants promised by Trump.
Now that I got your attention: Why do I name the late great Fela as my hero? Three reasons. One, he was a fearless pan African radical. Two, he told the truth. Three, he did not give a flying flamingo about tribe —-at all. He was a true Nigerian, a true African.
If you are interested in telling your story or if you have comments, send them to: onumbamedia@yahoo.com.
