U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released Somali community leader and activist Omar Jamal from detention earlier this week.
Omar, 52, was held in Freeborn County Jail for the last month. His arrest on Aug. 29 over previous immigration violations sent shockwaves through Minnesota’s Somali community.
Omar has been a public face of the Somali community since the early 2000s, always ready with a quote for local media outlets.
“He was de facto Somali leader at that time, speaking when there was no elected official [in Minnesota] from Somalia,” said Abdullahi Aden, a longtime friend.
Omar’s August arrest, outside the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, was caught on camera and broadcast on Newsmax, the right-wing cable news channel.
He was held in Freeborn County Jail until Sept. 29. On Friday morning, Omar held a news conference in Albert Lea with Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea to praise his treatment while detained in the jail for the last month.
Omar said that his daily routine in Freeborn County Jail consisted of waking up in the morning, going to the library, reading the history of Albert Lea, eating lunch and going to afternoon recreational activities like soccer and basketball. He told reporters that he called the news conference to dispel any rumors of bad treatment at the jail, adding that the jail offers inmates access to health care and allows people to practice their faith.
“What I have seen is a system at work,” he said, praising Shea and Freeborn County Jail Administrator Mike Stasko for their “ethics and moral leadership.”
Omar Jamal’s immigration case
Omar did not comment extensively at the news conference on his immigration case. He told reporters that he was surprised at his arrest by ICE agents last month, but complied with the orders regardless.
“We are living in interesting times,” he told reporters.
According to a federal indictment of Omar in 2003, Omar did not disclose to U.S. officials that he originally came to Canada as a refugee in the 1990s. The federal government moved to remove Omar from the U.S., and a judge made a deportation order for Omar in 2011.
Omar, however, successfully argued in court that a deportation to Somalia would jeopardize his safety. A federal judge agreed and granted Omar a withholding of removal to Somalia. Federal officials then tried to remove him to Canada, but Canada did not agree to receive Omar.
Omar was then released on an order of supervision, which required annual check-ins with ICE. According to his attorney Nico Ratkowski, the arrest and detainment of Omar in August was based on that old case “in the absence of any allegations that he committed a crime and absent any new alternatively valid basis for re-detention.”
ICE and Homeland Security agreed to release Omar earlier this week under conditions that are still being negotiated. He dispelled social media rumors claiming his release conditions include him agreeing to testify against other people.
“You cannot make things up like that,” he said. “And I have learned that if I try to run after everything on social media, I will go crazy.”
Omar added that he felt like his immigration case was in a good place moving forward. He added that he will continue to work his job as a community liaison for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office.
“The fact that I’m standing in front of you today shows that the law is working,” Omar said.
A colorful history
Abdullahi, who teaches Somali language, history and culture at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, said that he became close to Omar when, in the mid-2000s, Omar successfully helped him petition the government to bring his father, sister and brothers here from Kenya.
At that time, Abdullahi’s family members had failed immigration interviews with the U.S. State Department while they were living in Kenya.
“He gave me an idea — ‘Why don’t you write an advocate letter, and write to Sen. [Norm] Coleman about it?’” Abdullahi said. “I wrote Sen. Coleman and Sen. [Mark] Dayton.”
The letters worked, and Abdullahi has been grateful to Omar ever since.
At times, Omar sometimes latched on to divisive issues that caused controversy in the local Somali community. In 2020, Omar participated in a Project Veritas report accusing, without evidence, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman of participating in an illegal ballot harvesting operation. Project Veritas is a right-wing media operation known for its sting-style videos.
Omar later disputed some of the claims made in the Project Veritas video where he was featured.
Similarly, Omar riled up some in the community in 2009 by telling national media that Al Qaeda cells were active in the Twin Cities.
“He has some shortcomings,” Abdullahi said of Omar.
Abdihakim Farah, who has known Omar since the first year he came to Minnesota, praised him as “a man with a good heart” who is “very humble” and “works for the greater common interest.”
“The engine that God gave to this guy is a blessing to society,” Abdihakim said.
