As federal authorities prepared to launch a massive immigration crackdown targeting hundreds of undocumented Somalis in the state of Minnesota, US President Donald Trump verbally attacked Somali immigrants on Tuesday.
In a long rant to reporters, Trump said he did not want Somali immigrants in the United States, claiming that residents of the East African country “contributed nothing” to the US while relying on aid. Trump did not present any supporting evidence for these assertions.
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The US president has just launched a number of disparaging verbal attacks against the country’s Somali community. During his first term as president, he made similar remarks on social media last week. Trump has also repeatedly verbally targeted Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative who is a US citizen of Somali descent.
Except for white South Africans, for whom the US has increased quotas, the president has appeared to concentrate on immigrants from developing nations who have harsh policies or remarks.
According to an Afghan national’s fatal shooting of two National Guard members last week, the US has stopped immigration from 19 nations that are considered “high risk.” At the end of October, the Trump administration reduced the number of refugees the US will accept next year to just 7, 500 – the lowest number since , the 1980 Refugee Act – with preference to be given to white South Africans.
Then, on Tuesday, US media reported that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would launch an operation in Somalia-area towns in the coming days.
Within the past 50 years, a large portion of the Somali diaspora has settled in the US. Here’s what we know about why Trump is targeting the community now.
Trump’s statement: what?
Speaking to reporters following a US Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said he didn’t want Somalis in the US, describing them as “garbage”.
If we continue to import garbage into our country, he said, “We could go one way or the other, and we’re going the wrong way.”
They don’t contribute anything. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you”, Trump told reporters without specifying whether he was referring to citizens or irregular migrants.
Some people will say, “Oh, that’s not politically correct,” they say. Their country is no good for a reason, he said, and we don’t want them in our nation.
“These are people who do nothing but complain”, Trump continued. We don’t want them in our country because they complain and get nothing from where they came from. Let them re-enter their situation and make a fix for it.
Last week, in an address to the nation following the shooting of two National Guard members, which left one dead and another critically injured, Trump ordered that people from 19 blacklisted countries who held US green or permanent residency cards be “re-examined”.
In that statement, he then criticized the Somali community in Minnesota, saying “Suspenseful of Somalians are ripping off our country and tearing apart that once great state.”
In the upcoming days, an ICE operation focusing on Somali communities in the Minneapolis-St Paul area, according to a report released on Tuesday.
A sweep by ICE officers will round up undocumented people for deportation, AP reported, citing a person familiar with the plans.
The area is anticipated to be flooded by at least 100 ICE agents. According to a source close to the plan, Somalis who are attempting to obtain legal status may also be swept up.
Several states in recent months have experienced ICE raids on undocumented people, including Chicago, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City and Phoenix. According to the Department of Homeland Security, at least 527, 000 people have been deported from the US by October since the Trump administration took office in January.
Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz criticised the plan for Minneapolis in a post on X on Tuesday, saying that while the state applauded the prosecution of crimes, “pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem.”
City officials also condemned President Trump’s attack on the Somali community at a press conference on Tuesday and promised not to cooperate with ICE agents conducting migrant checks.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the potential action as “terrorizing” and declared, “Of course, this is a frightening moment for our Somali community.”
That is not American, he said. That’s not what we are about”, he said. We adore you and support you in our Somali community.
Jamal Osman, a member of the Minneapolis City Council who was 14 years old when he immigrated from Somalia to the US, said at the conference: “The city of Minneapolis stands behind you.
“Somali Americans are here to stay”, he added. We adore this state. This nation is our favorite. This is home. We won’t be going anywhere.
Yes . On November 21, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he was “immediately” terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, referring to a programme designed to provide emergency refuge for people whose countries are in crisis. That program includes about 705 Somalis.
Trump made the claim without providing any proof that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State” and that governor Walz was in charge of overseeing a state that had turned into a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
“Send them back to where they came from”, Trump said. “It’s over!”
After Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist, published allegations of welfare fraud against Somalis in Minnesota in a magazine called City Journal on November 19, Trump made accusations against the Somali community.
In the report, Rufo, citing unnamed” counterterrorism sources “and a police detective, claimed that Somalis benefiting from US welfare programmes were sending back huge amounts in remittances to their country, and that some of that money had ended up with al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-linked armed group controlling some rural parts of Somalia.
The privately funded $300 million Feeding Our Future charity program, which falsely claimed to be feeding millions of children during the COVID-19 crisis but ended up taking state funds, was one of the programs Rufo mentioned as fraudulent.
Federal prosecutors have found guilty the white ringleader Aimee Bock and several Somali-Americans.
In July, Somalia became one of 12 countries whose citizens are subject to a US travel ban. During the first Trump administration, it was also subject to a travel ban.
Trump’s intention to attack Ilhan Omar: Why?
Trump also made disparaging remarks about Democratic congresswoman Omar in his Tuesday attack, calling her” garbage”.
Omar, 43, a Somali immigrant who immigrated to the US in 1995 as a child, has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration and has been a member of the US Congress since then.
Trump claimed on Tuesday that “she’s an incompetent person, she’s a real terrible person,” adding without providing any proof that Omar hates everyone and is anti-Semitic.
Trump’s verbal attacks on Omar are not new. The representative has been repeatedly criticized by the president for her hijab and style of clothing.
Omar reacted to Trump’s most recent comments on Tuesday, saying, “His obsession with me is creepy.
His obsession with me is creepy. I’m hoping he receives the assistance he so desperately needs. https://t.co/pxOpAChHse
Omar also refuted claims that Minnesotan funds have been devolved into al-Shabab or that Somali gangs are pervasive in the state. She said at a briefing last week, “I challenge you to come forward with evidence if there is any.” You can’t victimise a whole community for the actions of a few. “
According to data from the US Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, there are currently about 260, 000 people of Somali descent living in the US. In addition to the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, and Canada, there are other significant diaspora communities that are among the largest Somali communities outside of Somalia.
Some Somalis arrived in the US in the 1960s as students, after the then-British Somaliland gained independence. Later, larger waves of people flocked to the troubled East African nation to flee the country’s protracted civil war, which was brought on by armed resistance against Mohamed Siad Barre’s military regime. Although the government continues to fight rebel groups and armed militants, that lasted from 1988 to 2000.
Most Somalis in the US live in Minnesota, where a number of social programmes are in existence, particularly in the Minneapolis-St Paul area, home to 63, 000 people of Somali descent. According to the World Population Review, states with large populations like Ohio (20, 000), Washington (15, 000), Virginia (3, 953), Georgia (3, 538), and California (21, 000).
How has the US handled the Somali diaspora?
Minneapolis hosts several hundred Somali businesses, mostly in retail and food services and including restaurants, grocery stores and clothing stores.
According to a 2017 report from the local publication MinnPost, Somalis who arrived in the state during the civil war were frequently faced difficulties learning English, but were able to work in unskilled occupations, like at meatpacking factories.
More Somalis diversified into the fields of finance, health, and education as the community grew. They also started getting into local politics. Omar became the first Somali-American representative to serve in the US Congress in 2019.
According to a report released by the state government in 2023, Somalis are only 19 years old on average in Minnesota. Most (53, 000) speak English with professional or limited proficiency, but the group also has one of the lowest levels of educational attainment among foreign populations in the state.
Somali men are frequently referred to as active in the labor force, despite the fact that there are more women employed than men. According to a 2016 report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, about 84 percent of male Somali refugees between the ages of 25 and 64 were employed in the state of Kentucky, up from 64 percent of females.
About 58 percent of Somalis in Minnesota were born in the US. About 87 percent of foreigners are naturalized citizens. About 50% of those people emigrated to the US in 2010 or later.
US authorities have in the past struggled to prevent the recruitment of young Somali-American men by al-Shabab and other armed groups. More than 20 Somali-American men visited Somalia to join al-Shabab in 2007. Since then, only a small number of cases have been identified. In September, a 23-year-old man in Minnesota pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to join a designated armed group.
The Somali-American community in Minneapolis is the most active in the country. Regardless of immigration status, the City works every day to make Minneapolis a welcoming place for everyone. More: https://t.co/FYJkJO3ZXx pic. twitter.com/t2Y8LwDVoX
