US President Donald Trump has said he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, telling reporters they should "go back to where they came from" and "their country is no good for a reason".
"I don't want them in our country, I'll be honest with you," he said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Trump said the US would "go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country".
His disparaging comments came as immigration authorities were reported to be planning an enforcement operation in Minnesota's large Somali community.
In response, the prime minister of Somalia said he would not give Trump's comments importance and suggested they should be ignored.
Officials in Minnesota have condemned the reported plan for an immigration enforcement operation, arguing it could unfairly sweep up American citizens who may appear to be from the East African nation.
Minneapolis and St Paul, which together are known as the Twin Cities, are home to one of the largest Somali communities in the world and the largest in the US.
The reported plan, and Trump's comments, represent an intensification of the president's recent attacks on Minnesota's Somali community, whose decades-long protected status in the US he recently pledged to revoke, and its Democratic politicians.
