She told her story today, claiming she was the victim of excessive abuse by federal agents. Photo credit (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
On a day where Minneapolis elected leaders held their latest in their series of updates on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are impacting the city and its residents, a 23-year old Somali woman is also recounting her own harrowing experience of being arrested by ICE two weeks ago in St. Paul.
Nasra Ahmed, born in Minnesota and by law a U.S. citizen, was arrested by federal agents at Afton View Apartments and detained for two days.
She explains what happened.
"I was waiting for these two men to hold the door for me, and I told them, 'hey, hey, can you hold the door for me?' And I walked right in the middle," Ahmed explains. "And when I was in the middle, ICE came. They came out of their cars. They asked me to see my ID."
Ahmed claims she was the victim of excessive abuse by those agents.
"They pushed me hard," she said. "They used a lot of violence. My body still hurts. I got a concussion.
Ahmed said she was initially taken to The Whipple Building at Fort Snelling, where ICE has been detaining people, before being transferred to Sherburne County Jail. She recounted the experience along with with State Representative Samakab Hussein (DFL-St. Paul).
"ICE came to my neighborhood, where my neighborhood is a very Somali neighborhood," Ahmed described. "And they kidnapped me. They took me, they arrested and detained me for two days and I was put in county jail. Then there was this ICE agent who called me a racial slur."
She stands defiant.
"I am proud to say that I've survived ICE," Ahmed said on Wednesday. "I'm proud to say that I stood up for what is right, and I will carry this on my shoulders even though I am fearful."
“The record of incompetence and cruelty by the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security Sec. Noem is growing each day," said a statement regarding the arrest of Ahmed from U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum. "Minnesotans across the state are facing masked, unprofessional, untrained federal agents who are making people feel afraid in their own communities by wreaking havoc. How is DHS and ICE making Minnesota and our nation any safer?"
Meanwhile, elected leaders in Minneapolis provided their own update on ICE actions in the city Wednesday.
Among the topics, leaders shared that they're working with schools and hospitals to update policies around where ICE agents are and are not allowed to be.
"This is causing significant trauma to our kids," said Minneapolis School Board Chair Collin Beachy. "I mean, we all know this, and it's gonna take some time for this to be undone to those people who are the most vulnerable in our schools. And so we're working hard with our counselors and the EMSS team to make sure that everyone is safe on the physical side, as well as whatever counseling needs that they need."
City leaders are also reminding residents to upload information and photos on any questionable actions by ICE to the online portal that has been set up on the Minnesota Attorney General's Office's website.
"We continue to work with schools and hospitals to update policies around how ICE can be in those areas, and where they cannot be, in order to make sure we're keeping our students safe, our teachers safe, and our patients, doctors and healthcare workers safe," added State Representative Esther Agbaje (DFL-North Minneapolis).