A Minneapolis resident invited to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union as Representative Ilhan Omar’s guest was detained and escorted out of the chamber on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, 2026 — a dramatic episode that renewed fierce debate over the administration’s widening immigration enforcement efforts.
Aliya Rahman, who had been violently apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents the previous month, was removed from the Capitol by Capitol Police during the address for what officers called “disruption of Congress.” Her attorney condemned the move as “a blatant abuse of power,” arguing she was targeted for “simply standing in silence.”
Rahman stated she was injured during the confrontation and taken to the emergency room. After treatment, she was arrested and accused of unlawful conduct, according to Representative Omar. Rahman said she was released from custody just before 4 a.m. in Washington, D.C.
ICE operations throughout the Twin Cities have recently drawn significant backlash from residents and local officials.
The ACLU has launched multiple lawsuits alleging the administration violated the First Amendment rights of protesters and observers in Minnesota. More than 80 people submitted sworn statements asserting that federal agents wrongly told them their lawful observation activities were illegal. Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, disputed the government’s claims. “In the vast majority of those cases, they’re engaging in perfectly lawful conduct,” Kim said.
The enforcement escalation has also resulted in several U.S. citizens being wrongfully detained. ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a longtime naturalized citizen, was inside his St. Paul home when masked ICE agents forced open his door without a warrant and held him at gunpoint. They took him outside into subfreezing weather wearing only underwear, sandals, and a blanket, while his five-year-old grandson cried. After holding him for one to two hours, agents realized he was not the person they were pursuing and released him without an apology.
The Department of Homeland Security described the operation as a “targeted operation” seeking two convicted sex offenders, but the family disputes this explanation.
In another incident, 20-year-old Mubashir Khalif Hussen was walking to lunch in Cedar-Riverside on Dec. 10, 2025, when a masked federal agent sprinted toward him and tackled him. He was forced into a back hallway and detained despite showing his U.S. passport. After being held for several hours, agents refused to return him to the place of arrest, telling him to walk the seven miles back through the snow.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced the detention, saying Mubashir was “taken into custody for no reason at all, in clear violation of law and the Constitution of the United States for simply walking down the street and looking like he’s Somali.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding a review of recent operations. “The forcefulness, lack of communication, and unlawful practices displayed by your agents will not be tolerated in Minnesota,” Walz wrote.
The recent enforcement activities have also turned deadly. ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and a U.S. citizen, on Jan. 7, 2026, while she sat in her car in Minneapolis. Witness testimony and video evidence challenged federal claims that she attempted to run over officers.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her issued a strong rebuke of the federal tactics: “ICE is not doing what they say they’re doing. They’re not going after hardened criminals. They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.”
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have rolled back or dismissed charges in more than a dozen cases in which observers were accused of obstructing officers. A federal judge in Los Angeles rejected similar arguments, ruling that protesters monitoring agents did not meet the legal definition of interference. In Chicago, most people arrested for obstruction were released without charges.
White House border czar Tom Homan defended the administration’s approach during a Feb. 12 briefing, announcing the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge but cautioning that the government “will not tolerate unlawful actions committed by agitators who are just causing havoc.” Legal scholars reiterate that observing, recording, and even following officers at a safe distance remain constitutionally protected.
Rahman’s removal from the State of the Union represents an unusual instance of a congressional guest being expelled from the president’s annual address.
