State and federal authorities are monitoring online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans.

Louisiana’s top officials welcome federal immigration enforcement efforts, even as officials in the state’s largest city have expressed an unwillingness to aid them.

In letters sent on Friday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple head Tim Cook, committee leaders singled out ICEBlock, an app previously used to monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, saying apps hosted on their app stores risk "jeopardizing the safety of DHS personnel." Lawmakers requested a briefing by December 12.

On Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced five additional arrests, in addition to the 12 made in Minneapolis earlier this week.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said immigration officials arrested 12 people as part of Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, including five Somali, six Mexican and one El Salvadoran.

In some cities where federal agents have conducted large-scale immigration operations that officials said would largely target criminals, more people without criminal records were detained in recent months.

Federal agents have made a dozen arrests in Minneapolis in an operation focused on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., but fewer than half of those arrested are Somalis.

Afghans and those who have spent years trying to help them since the fallout of the U.S. withdrawal from the country are reeling after a series of punitive actions taken by President Trump in the wake of a deadly shooting against National Guardsmen.

A native of Minnesota who is of Somali descent said people in his community are afraid to leave their homes despite their citizenship status.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has identified and charged 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano in a light rail stabbing, months after the city experienced a high-profile attack on the same transport system. The police confirmed to Newsweek by email that the suspect has been charged with five counts, including attempted first-degree murder.

Residents in the Twin Cities are keeping a close eye on public schools for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity amid operations targeting Somali immigrants in the area.