Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community

Geoff Bennett:

President Trump in recent days has taken aim at Minnesota's Somali community with xenophobic remarks and calls for removal from the U.S. It coincides with the new ICE operation in the Twin Cities that's resulted in at least five arrests of Somali immigrants.

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has this report on the community's response and how we got here, including a sweeping fraud scandal that's gripping the state.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

At Karmel Mall, a hub for Somali life and culture in south Minneapolis, business has been slower than usual this week.

Woman:

It's very scary, especially the small business owner. For us, for me, well, all the business, Karmel Mall, we're not making any monies.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Concern rose here after word of an increase in federal immigration enforcement targeting Minnesota's Somali community. The state is home to about 80,000 people of Somali descent, the largest such population in the country. Most are citizens and many were born here.

The stepped-up enforcement, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, follows President Trump's repeated attacks on Minnesota's Somali community.

President Donald Trump:

They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country, I will be honest with you. Their country stinks.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

The president also singled out Ilhan Omar, the progressive Somalia-born Minnesota congresswoman, who he's long criticized.

Donald Trump:

Ilhan Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren't people that work. These aren't people that say, let's go. Come on. Let's make this place great. These are people that do nothing but complain.

Man:

I was shocked, bro. I was like, what? I was just like, really? He said that? I mean, I have seen him say crazy things, but now he hits home.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

The comments sparked an uproar in Minnesota's Somali community.

Woman:

We really thought, wow. Why would somebody to call a whole community and say you're garbage or you stink? Actually, we smell really good.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Even Somali Americans who voted for Trump, like business owner Waris Mohamud, expressed anger.

Waris Mohamud, Business Owner:

We want he make America great, but not insulting the people. He is the president. I want he change his tongue, because he doesn't know us. Come over here, Donald Trump. You are our president. Come over here, have a tea, and you will learn who we are.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

President Trump targeted Somali immigrants in his first term too. But his rhetoric sharpened dramatically this week amid increased national attention to a series of massive Minnesota fraud scandals in which almost all of the dozens of people charged so far are of Somali descent.

In one case, hundreds of millions of dollars were allegedly stolen from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic. Officials called it the largest COVID era fraud scheme in the country. Authorities later said there was large-scale fraud in a program designed to help people with disabilities get housing.

And in September, a woman was charged for defrauding a state autism treatment program. All told, federal prosecutors estimate fraud in Minnesota could cost taxpayers over a billion dollars.

When you started to read about these fraud stories, what was your reaction as a Somali American?

Ahmed Samatar, Macalester College:

Well, I was ashamed.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Ahmed Samatar is an international studies professor at Macalester College in st. Paul. Originally from Somalia, he's lived in Minnesota for over 30 years. He says Somalis mostly started arriving here in the 1990s, fleeing their country's civil war. They were drawn to Minnesota's generous safety net, including refugee resettlement nonprofits based here.

That's partly why he was so angered by Somalis' involvement in the fraud cases.

Ahmed Samatar:

Somali Minnesotans have to face this, and they really have to clean up their act, because the state deserves better than that. But I think the challenge is to keep that in its proper place, because it's a real story, and then, next to it, expound on what the Somalis have achieved in the state of Minnesota.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

But, as scrutiny of Minnesota's Somali community spikes, so does criticism of Governor Tim Walz for failing to heed early warnings about fraud and to do enough to combat it.

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN):

You commit fraud in Minnesota, you're going to prison. I don't care what color you are, what religion you are. Anybody who wants to help us in that, we welcome that. But sitting on the sidelines and throwing out accusations and, let's be very clear, demonizing an entire population and lying to people about the safety and security of the state, is beneath that.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

The topic will likely dominate next year's gubernatorial election, when a crowded Republican field will try to stop Walz from winning a third term.

One of his challengers is Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

State Rep. Lisa Demuth (R-MN):

This does point to Governor Walz, because whether or not some of it preceded him, it has exploded during his time leading our state. And there has not been that accountability that taxpayers are counting on.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

What do you think about what has emerged since, which is a racialization at many levels of this issue?

State Rep. Lisa Demuth:

You know, I don't think fraud needs to be a topic of race, but when we're looking at that, it is heavily centered on one culture, one population. But I don't agree with any demonization of an entire culture. So I don't think that we're painting everyone with a broad brush, but we are definitely pointing where there has been known fraud, and that's what needs to stop.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

We asked Demuth about President Trump's recent comments about Somalis.

What's your message to the Somali community when they hear rhetoric like that?

State Rep. Lisa Demuth:

My top message to Governor Walz is end the fraud.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

To the Somali community.

State Rep. Lisa Demuth:

My top message to Governor Walz is, end the fraud here in the state of Minnesota. When fraud ends in the state of Minnesota, a whole group of people will not be concerned or wondering if they're going to be under investigation. Governor Walz has not taken fraud seriously enough in the state of Minnesota.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

You don't take issue with the president's rhetoric?

State Rep. Lisa Demuth:

I'm focused on what Minnesota is doing and our lack of leadership here.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

Back at Karmel Mall, as rumors of ICE sightings and detentions trickle through the community, residents and business owners anxiously await what comes next, while remaining defiant.

Man:

This is our country. If the people says to, go back to your country, this is your country.

Waris Mohamud:

We're not scared of what our president said. We don't care. Whatever he want to, he can say. We're not going to scare with that. He cannot bully us.

Fred de Sam Lazaro:

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis.