During an extended Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump expressed his desire to limit Somali immigration to the United States. He claimed that individuals from the conflict-stricken eastern African nation heavily depend on social welfare programs and provide little benefit to the U.S.

Trump’s remarks followed his administration’s recent decision to suspend all asylum processes. This move came in the aftermath of an incident where two National Guard soldiers were shot in Washington.

Although the suspect involved in the shooting was originally from Afghanistan, Trump took the opportunity to critique immigrants from other countries, specifically mentioning Somalia.

“They contribute nothing,” Trump stated. “The welfare dependency is around 88 percent or something. I don’t want them in our country.”

He further added, “Their country is failing for a reason. We don’t want them bringing those issues here.”

Trump was speaking as his administration was finalising an immigration enforcement operation that will primarily target Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the US, according to a person familiar with the planning.

It could begin in days and is expected to zero in on people in the central eastern cities of Minneapolis–St Paul who have final orders of deportation, the person said.

Teams of immigration agents would spread across the cities in what the person described as a directed, high-priority sweep, though the plans remain fluid and subject to change.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations that have not been publicly disclosed.

The operation was first reported by The New York Times.

US Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agency would not discuss “future or potential operations.”

The announcement drew immediate pushback from Somali-American leaders, who characterised Trump’s declaration as a legally dubious effort to sow fear and suspicion.

“There’s no legal mechanism that allows the president to terminate protected status for a particular community or state that he has beef with,” said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Centre.

“This is Trump doing what he always does: demagoguing immigrants without justification or evidence and using that demagoguery in an attempt to take away important life-saving protections,” she added.

The Trump administration has until mid-January to revoke the legal protection for Somalis nationally.

But that move would affect only a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of Somalis living in Minnesota.

A report produced for Congress in August put the number of Somalis covered by temporary protected status at just 705 nationwide.

“I am a citizen and so are (the) majority of Somalis in America,” Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Somali, said in a social media post.

“Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate.”

Still, advocates warned the move could inflame hate against a community at a time of rising Islamophobia.

“This is not just a bureaucratic change,” said Jaylani Hussein, president of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“It is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric.”