'Worst of the Worst': ICE Reportedly Sends Legal Somali Resident to Guantánamo Bay Without Warrant

Immigration authorities have sent Adam Abdullah, a 31-year-old Somali asylum seeker with a US work permit, to Guantánamo Bay after federal agents stopped his vehicle in St Paul, Minnesota, on 12 December 2025, according to his account to Minnesota Public Radio.

Abdullah said the officers did not produce a warrant or explain why they had targeted him. He said he had a Social Security number, a work permit and regular check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The arrest took place at the start of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation launched by the Trump administration in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Abdullah arrived in the United States as an asylum seeker in 2023 and worked as an auto mechanic.

Abdullah had only 10 minutes to speak with MPR News by telephone from Guantánamo on Tuesday. He used that brief call to describe the encounter.

'When they come to me, and I ask them why you pulled me over, they say, 'We are immigration, so give me your work permit,' Abdullah said. 'And I asked them, 'Do you have a warrant, and what's the reason to pull me over?' And they say, 'We don't need a warrant; we are immigration, and we know you are Adam Abdullah.'

Somali Asylum Seeker Describes Guantánamo Transfer

Abdullah said authorities never explained why they targeted him. A search of Minnesota court records found two parking tickets issued to him in early 2025 after he failed to move his vehicle during snow emergencies.

The records do not establish the full circumstances of Abdullah's immigration case. A work permit, by itself, also does not determine whether someone is a permanent resident or otherwise has unrestricted immigration status.

Over the following nine months, Abdullah was moved from Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea to a detention centre in Covington, Kentucky, and then to Louisiana, according to MPR News.

He said immigration officials later told him he would be sent back to Somalia through Miami. During the flight, however, he was told the aircraft would stop in Cuba to refuel before continuing through other countries.

'From Miami they say OK we go to Somalia, but first we go to Cuba for refuelling then we go to some other countries to Somalia,' Abdullah said.

His wrists and ankles were shackled throughout the hours-long flights, he said. He was never sent to Somalia.

The stop in Cuba became a detention transfer. At the time of his interview, Abdullah said he had been held at Camp Six at Guantánamo Bay for about two weeks. Camp Six is a military detention facility originally established for terrorism suspects.

Abdullah said telephone calls were restricted and opportunities for exercise were limited. He said detainees could spend several hours together during the day.

'During the day we have a few hours together,' he said.

Abdullah also said eight Somali nationals were being held at Guantánamo, including several people arrested in the Twin Cities. The Department of Homeland Security did not answer MPR News' questions about the number of detainees at the facility or the reason for Abdullah's arrest.

His immigration lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said the case had created practical problems. Abdullah is the first of Prokosch's clients to be held at Guantánamo, while calls last only five to 10 minutes.

'Calls are limited to five to 10 minutes, and we don't even know if they're confidential,' Prokosch said. 'And that's the only way that we can communicate with our clients is through these phone calls that may or may not be under attorney-client confidentiality.'

Guantánamo Policy Faces Court Challenge

The transfer comes as the administration's use of Guantánamo for immigration detention faces a legal challenge.

Yumna Rizvi, a policy analyst with the Center for Victims of Torture, said the government began sending immigration detainees to Guantánamo early last year under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

'This administration wants to conflate this threat of immigration with terrorism, so wants to create this idea that the individuals at Camp 6 are so terrible and so horrific,' Rizvi said.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued to stop the transfers. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argues that the federal government lacks legal authority to detain immigrants overseas. That remains an argument in ongoing litigation, not a settled court finding.

A judge in Washington has allowed the case to proceed and scheduled a hearing for 14 October.

'The facts have shown that this is far from a refuelling stop, that people are being held there for weeks, not months, and also under horrible conditions,' Gelernt said.

DHS said in a statement that a recent flight to Guantánamo included 'some of the worst of the worst' and 'criminal illegal aliens.'

The department did not identify Abdullah or say that the description referred to him. MPR News also noted that it removed an image originally published with its report after determining that it had been digitally generated from a different photograph.