President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he did not want Somali immigrants in the United States, asserting they rely too heavily on U.S. social programs and “contribute nothing.” Speaking near the end of a lengthy Cabinet meeting, he urged Somalis living in the U.S. to “go back to where they came from and fix it,” and said, “Their country is no good for a reason. Your country stinks and we don’t want them in our country.”
The remarks, which did not distinguish between citizens and noncitizens, are the latest in a sustained campaign by Trump against the Somali diaspora, which has settled in Minnesota and other states often as refugees since the 1990s. They came days after the administration announced a pause on all asylum decisions following a shooting that wounded two National Guard soldiers in Washington; the suspect in that incident is originally from Afghanistan. Trump used the episode to question immigrants from several countries, including Somalia.
Last week, conservative activist Christopher Rufo published allegations in City Journal—citing unnamed sources—that funds stolen from Minnesota programs had been funneled to al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant group that controls parts of Somalia. Those claims have not been substantiated. After the piece, Trump posted on social media that he would send Somalis “back to where they came from,” and labeled Minnesota, home to the largest Somali community in the U.S., “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
On Tuesday he pledged to terminate temporary legal protections for Somalis living in Minnesota, a move that has sparked fear among the state’s immigrant communities and prompted questions from legal experts about whether the White House can implement such directives as described. The policy change would affect only a small number of people: a congressional report in August estimated just 705 Somalis nationwide were covered by Temporary Protected Status.
Trump also renewed his attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who emigrated from Somalia in 1995 and whose family spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp. “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way, if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said. “Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.” Omar responded on social media, writing: “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
Trump further characterized Somali immigrants as largely nonworking and complaining rather than contributing to the country. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back, calling the president’s message “wrong” and noting Somali residents have started businesses, created jobs and enriched the city’s cultural fabric. Frey said villainizing an entire group is “ridiculous under any circumstances” and raised concerns about constitutional and moral violations in how the administration is treating Minnesota’s Somali community.
