MANKATO — For Somalis in Greater Minnesota, distance from enhanced ICE raids in the Twin Cities hasn’t provided much solace.
Ahmed “Jaffer” Mohamud, who works at Mankato Area Refugee Services, has gotten calls from fellow Somalis who tell him they fear going to the grocery store, to school or to work.
Despite their legal status, and despite being about 80 miles from the epicenter of ICE operations in Minnesota, fear extends to Mankato, Mohamud said.
“People see what is going on with the Twin Cities through social media and they believe nowhere is safe,” he said. “(Federal agencies) didn’t get to this area yet, but still they feel there’s no place safe from that type of operation. At any time and with anyone it can happen. That’s the feeling.”
Outside of the Twin Cities region, where most of Minnesota’s 108,000 Somalis live, thousands of Somalis call Mankato, St. Cloud, Rochester or other Greater Minnesota cities home. But many of them have been hunkering down in recent weeks, ever since President Donald Trump ratcheted up his angry rhetoric about Somalis and other immigrants in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., one of whom died.
In a news conference after announcing a halt on asylum decisions, Trump referred to Somalis as “garbage,” saying they contribute nothing to the state while defrauding Minnesota out of billions of dollars, a reference to the Feeding Our Future scandal and other fraud cases involving Medicaid funds that have involved several Somalis.
Most recently, he announced a freeze on child care funds to Minnesota and demanded an audit of day care centers after a video that went viral purported so show empty day care centers, many of them run by Somalis.
U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, who once touted Somali assimilation, also falsely accused Somalis of committing the vast majority of crimes in Minnesota.
That rhetoric was followed by Operation Metro Surge, enhanced ICE operations to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants in the Twin Cities — many of them from the Minneapolis Somali community.
That’s a different message than what Somalis are hearing from leaders in Greater Minnesota.
City leaders, including mayors in Willmar and Owatonna, have spoken out in support of Somalis in their communities. Trump’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities also has inspired groups to hold solidarity events for Somalis in St. Cloud, Rochester and Moorhead.
Meanwhile, the Immigrant Defense Network has been holding training sessions across Greater Minnesota for “constitutional observers” — residents versed in legal rights for immigrants who can document ICE actions.
Quiet majority v. loud rhetoric
Owatonna’s mayor, Matt Jessop, posted his message of support on Facebook. He couldn’t understand why Somalis were being demonized, he said, and felt this was the moment to voice how the silent majority feels.
“A lot of times the angry voices come off as the loudest,” he said. “Just because you’re the loudest doesn’t mean you’re right. In this case the silent majority who are out there letting the Somali residents of Owatonna, of Mankato, and surrounding communities know they’re valued as members of our communities, they’re the voices that are in the right.”
The idea of refugees coming to the U.S. and not contributing anything is far removed from his experience in Owatonna. Jessop runs a downtown shoe store in a city with a large manufacturing base. He sees Somali customers come in to buy work boots.
“They’re here to work hard and take care of their families,” Jessop said. “They want to be given a chance.”
The response to his Facebook post has been overwhelmingly positive, he said. “I had and have an idea of who the people in our community are,” he said. “That’s my idea of who the people in this community are.”
Mohamud, an imam at mosques in Mankato and St. Peter, came to the United States as a refugee about 25 years ago. He earned U.S. citizenship through an exhaustive process, a path many other Somalis in Minnesota are following after fleeing violence in their homeland.
Fear will be ‘hard to shake’
“The fear they’re feeling right now will be hard to shake,” he said. “These policies trigger the trauma that this population went through.”
The fear is evident in the clients that Jamal Bare works with, too. At Refugee Services, a Minnesota Council of Churches program, he helps Somalis navigate the job market in the Mankato area.
Being here legally doesn’t mean they aren’t worrying, he said, especially when rumors swirl about ICE activity around town. Rumors became reality a day after Christmas, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified the city that agents were working in Mankato.
While Mankato hadn’t previously been a focus of ICE operations, other cities dealt with it. Agents came through west-central Minnesota in unmarked cars in mid-December, detaining residents and checking paperwork, said Peg Furshong, director of constituent engagement at CURE, a Montevideo-based rural advocacy nonprofit.
The agency’s “scare tactics,” directed at Montevideo’s Hispanic residents, were disheartening, Furshong said. CURE was part of a support network set up to help connect them to legal or other resources.
“We believe that the immigrant population is vital to rural Minnesota and adds to the community fabric,” she said.
At a St. Cloud event, City Council member Hudda Ibrahim spoke of times when Somalis hid in their homes. They shouldn’t have to do that in St. Cloud, she said in a video posted on Minnesota Somali Network TV’s YouTube page.
“St. Cloud has always been a beacon of hope, welcoming those who seek to work and build a better life in St. Cloud,” she said. “This spirit of inclusivity is what makes our community, the St. Cloud community, resilient and strong.”
St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson talked about the “deep care” Somali residents have for his city. Somalis are business owners, teachers, physicians and civic leaders, he said.
“Whoever attempts to distort this reality should hear this statement clearly: St. Cloud recognizes its Somali population and so does our state,” he said.
Training ‘constitutional observers’
Nick Olson, an organizer with the Immigrant Defense Network, has led about a dozen “constitutional observer” training sessions in west- and north-central Minnesota since late September. Other IDN organizers, as well as lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, have been offering such training in other parts of the state.
On a recent frigid Sunday night in Willmar, he spoke to about 35 residents inside Spurs Bar & Grill downtown.
The training is designed to offer clarity in three areas: the legal rights of immigrants and those who may witness an apprehension; ways to support immigrants who face arrest or detention; and financial, legal or other assistance for detained immigrants and their families.
“There are immigrant families all over Minnesota, especially in Greater Minnesota, and sometimes people (in the Twin Cities) don’t recognize that,” Olson said. “How integral and woven into the fabric of communities (those immigrants are) is so important and that gets overlooked.”
COPAL, a statewide organization advocating for Latino families, works with IDN on the events. The groups are planning a “Brave of Us” tour to bring training to 30 Midwest cities starting in January.
Moorhead held an event in the same vein as St. Cloud’s, with Mayor Shelly Carlson saying her community is stronger because of its diversity. City Council members also unanimously approved a resolution in support of the city’s Somali residents.
The response from state and city leaders shows the majority of Minnesotans stand against the Trump administration’s targeting of Somalis, Mohamud said. He knew of an event in St. Peter, about 15 miles north of Mankato, where community leaders met with Somali locals at a mosque to hear what they can do to help.
“Minnesotans are standing by and supporting us, the majority of them,” Mohamud said. “This is something that came from the federal side.”
Associate Editor Gregg Aamot contributed to this report. This article first appeared at MinnPost: tinyurl.com/45zz5jas.