The President has repeatedly named the Somali community in Minnesota, which he has linked to recent fraud allegations, as he ramps up attacks on immigrants and Democrats.
When authorities found that an Afghan asylee was the suspect in a shooting near the White House last week, President Donald Trump used the opportunity to push a “reverse migration” agenda aimed at demonizing refugees and other foreigners in America. But in his rants, he repeatedly mentioned one particular nationality: Somalis.
In response to a reporter’s question during the President’s call with troops on Thanksgiving, Trump admitted that there was “nothing” linking Somalis to the shooting. Still, he claimed, without evidence, that Somalis “have caused a lot of trouble” for the U.S.
The day after the shooting near the White House, Trump ordered a review of green cards issued to migrants from 19 countries of concern, including Somalia. And, in a Thanksgiving message posted on Truth Social where he announced that he would “permanently pause” migration from “Third World” countries, he particularly blasted the Somali community in Minnesota. The state has the largest population of those with reported Somali heritage in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, and Trump claimed they are “completely taking over” the state.
But even before the shooting, Trump had already scrutinized the Somali presence in Minnesota. During his first term, he targeted them at a rally, saying “leaders in Washington brought large numbers of refugees” to Minnesota “without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers.”
More recently, he claimed in a Nov. 21 Truth Social post that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing,” and he announced he would end Temporary Protected Statuses for Somalis “effective immediately,” causing alarm among the Somali population in Minnesota.
Here’s what to know.Why are there so many Somalis in Minnesota?
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the United States—more than 61,000 persons of the state’s approximately 5.7-million population have reported Somali ancestry, according to census data. Since the early 1990s, Somalis have consistently arrived in the country, often as refugees, from the East African country’s civil war. Many Somali refugees found Minnesota appealing because of the available social services and welfare programs that helped them resettle and, over time, because of the growing diaspora that had already resettled there.
Over time, Somalis have become integrated into the community and have played larger roles in local and even national government, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, who in 2018 became the first Somali-American elected to Congress and has been a frequent target of Trump’s attacks.
Citizens of Somalia were first given TPS status in September 1991, under the presidency of Republican President George H.W. Bush. The Administration back then granted the status, recognizing that there “exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in Somalia that prevent aliens who are nationals of Somalia from returning to Somalia in safety.” Since then, the TPS status for Somalis has been either extended or redesignated 27 times in recognition of the ongoing conflict in the nation, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service earlier this year, with the latest extension coming during the Biden Administration, when then Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushed the end date of Somali’s TPS status to March 17, 2026.
