Homan backs Trump's immigration crackdown, says Minnesota operations are not in response to his comments about Somalis

White House border czar, Tom Homan, defended President Donald Trump's immigration strategy in Minnesota on Sunday, after the president called Somali immigrants "garbage" and said they should be sent "back to where they came from."

Speaking to CNN's State of the Union, Homan said he fully shares Trump's immigration approach: "I agree with President Trump. From day one, he has said we are concentrated on public safety threats and national security threats."

While Trump's comments about the Somalis generated criticism nationally - most notably from progressive Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who said the president has an "unhealthy obsession" with the Somali community. Homan denied that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis-St. Paul are a direct response to such statements.

"I'm not aware of what President Trump was thinking when he said that," Homas said, insisting that agents don't target people based on their appearance.

"We also know there's a large illegal Somali community there, that there's a large illegal alien community there," the senior official added. "We're going to arrest every illegal alien that we find there."

Minnesota, according to various reports, is home to some 80.000 people of Somali origin, mostly in the Twin Cities and, according to local authorities, a large portion are U.S. citizens or refugees who arrived after decades of conflict in Somalia.

The raids and Trump's comments about Somalis sparked some fear in Minnesota. In fact, Republican Sen. John Curtis called for greater transparency in the operations to avoid misinformation and unnecessary fears in the community.

"I think that to the extent that ICE is not transparent, it brings this fear into a community, and we've got to get rid of that fear," the senator told CNN.