Activists confronted a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood home to many Somali residents on Tuesday afternoon.

Protesters attempted to link hands and use vehicles to block ICE agents into a parking lot next door to Riverside Plaza.

Agents deployed pepper spray on protesters who blocked their vehicles and eventually left the area.

Federal agents launched an enforcement operation last week primarily focused on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., but fewer than half of those detained are Somali.

President Donald Trump recently targeted Somali immigrants in public remarks, calling them “garbage” and saying “they contribute nothing.” He also blamed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for allowing alleged fraud in government programs to happen on his watch, which a conservative publication claimed was funneling money to a Somali militant group.  AP