ST. PAUL — A Somali man who was living legally in the Twin Cities has been sent to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to accounts provided to MPR News.
Adam Abdullah, 31, described being stopped by federal agents in St. Paul on December 12 at the start of what the Trump administration termed Operation Metro Surge. He said agents did not present a warrant and did not explain why he was targeted, telling him only that they were immigration officials.
Abdullah arrived in the United States as an asylum seeker in 2023, obtained a work permit and Social Security number, and worked as an auto mechanic. A court record search in Minnesota reportedly found only two parking tickets from early 2025, and no criminal record.
He said he was moved between facilities in Minnesota, Kentucky and Louisiana before being told he would be returned to Somalia via Miami. Instead, he said, he was taken to Guantanamo Bay, where he has been held at Camp Six for approximately two weeks. He said he is among eight Somali detainees there, including several arrested in the Twin Cities.
Legal Challenge and Attorney Access
Immigration attorney Marc Prokosch said Abdullah is the first client he has represented who is being held at Guantanamo, describing access as a significant challenge. Calls are limited to five to ten minutes, and Prokosch said it is unclear whether they are confidential.
The ACLU has sued to stop the administration from sending migrants to Guantanamo. Attorney Lee Gelernt argued that the government has no legal authority to detain immigrants overseas, and said people are being held there for weeks under difficult conditions rather than being processed through a brief transit stop. A judge in Washington has allowed the suit to proceed and set a hearing for October 14, according to the report.
Yumna Rizvi, a policy analyst with the Center for Victims of Torture, said the government began sending immigration detainees to Guantanamo early last year under an executive order from President Donald Trump. She argued that the administration is conflating immigration with terrorism in its public messaging about the facility.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that a recent flight to Guantanamo included what it described as the “worst of the worst” among people in the country illegally. The department did not answer questions about how many detainees are being held at Guantanamo or the reason for Abdullah’s arrest, according to MPR News.
Guantanamo Bay has a long history of holding Somali nationals. In 2022, Guled Hassan Duran, a Somali man held at Guantanamo for nearly two decades and accused of being a member of Al-Shabaab, was cleared for release with U.S. backing. Duran, who was never charged with a crime, was approved for transfer to Somalia after a security review board determined he no longer posed a significant threat. His case, like Abdullah’s, raised questions about the legal basis and duration of detentions at the facility, though the circumstances of the two cases differ substantially.
The U.S. has also continued to pursue terrorism-related suspects connected to Somalia. In a joint operation, the FBI and Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency apprehended a suspect linked to the “Feeding Our Future” fraud case after four years on the run. The case, which involved the largest Covid-19 relief fraud scheme in Minnesota history, underscores the complexity of Somali diaspora-related investigations that can blur the lines between fraud, immigration violations, and national security concerns.
The United States has also placed a $5 million bounty on a senior Al-Shabaab commander, reflecting Washington’s continued focus on counterterrorism in Somalia. While this case is distinct from Abdullah’s detention, it illustrates the broader security context in which Somali nationals in the United States are sometimes viewed, and the extent to which U.S. policy toward Somalia blends counterterrorism priorities with immigration enforcement.
Critical Note
This case raises serious questions about the legal basis for detaining migrants at a facility designed for terrorism suspects, and whether the government has provided adequate justification for individual detentions. The reported facts, including Abdullah’s legal status, work history and lack of a criminal record, stand in tension with the government’s public characterization of detainees. The ACLU’s lawsuit and the upcoming court hearing will be an important test of whether the executive branch has the authority to hold immigrants at Guantanamo.
However, the full facts of the case remain contested, and much of the account is based on a limited phone interview and statements from advocacy and legal organizations with positions on the policy. The government has not explained its specific reasons for detaining Abdullah. This article has been written with those limitations in mind, and readers should note that the legal challenge is ongoing.
The broader context of U.S. policy toward Somalia and its diaspora adds another layer of complexity. Counterterrorism cases and immigration enforcement are increasingly intertwined, and Somali nationals in the United States can find themselves navigating a system where the distinction between security concerns and immigration violations is not always clear. The outcomes of the ACLU lawsuit and other legal challenges will shape how these policies are applied in the future.
