US President Donald Trump launched a verbal attack on Somali immigrants on Tuesday, as federal authorities prepare for a major immigration crackdown targeting hundreds of undocumented Somalis in Minnesota.
In a lengthy rant to reporters, President Trump said he didn’t want Somali immigrants in the United States, claiming the East African country’s residents depend on aid and “contribute nothing” to the United States. President Trump provided no evidence to support these claims.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
This is just the latest in a series of derogatory verbal attacks launched by the US president against the country’s Somali community. He posted similar remarks on social media last week and during his first term as president. President Trump has also repeatedly verbally attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American national.
The president appears to be focusing his harsh rhetoric and policies on immigrants from developing countries, with the exception of white South Africans, to whom the US has increased quotas.
The United States has suspended entry from 19 countries deemed to be “high risk” due to last week’s shooting death of two National Guard soldiers by an Afghan national. In late October, the Trump administration cut the number of refugees the United States would accept next year to just 7,500 (the lowest since the enactment of the Refugee Act in 1980), giving priority to white South Africans.
And on Tuesday, US media reported that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would carry out operations near Somalia in the coming days.
Much of the Somali diaspora has settled in the United States within the past 50 years. Here’s what we know about why Trump is targeting communities now.
What did Trump say?
Speaking to reporters after a U.S. Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Trump called Somalis “trash” and said he did not want them in the United States.
“We could go either way, but if we continue to bring trash into our country, we’re going to go in the wrong direction,” he said.
“They’re not contributing anything. I don’t want them in our country, let’s be honest,” Trump told reporters, without specifying whether he was referring to citizens or undocumented immigrants.
“Some people will say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care… There’s a reason their country sucks… Your country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country,” he said.
“These are people who just complain,” Trump continued. “They complain, but they don’t get anything out of where they come from…If they’re from hell and all they do is complain and complain and do stupid things, we don’t want them in this country. Let’s bring them back and fix it.”
In an address to the nation last week following the shooting of two National Guard members, leaving one dead and another seriously injured, President Trump ordered a “re-examination” of people from 19 blacklisted countries who hold U.S. green card or permanent resident cards.
He also focused on Minnesota’s Somali community in his speech, saying, “Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are plundering our country and tearing apart our once great nation.”
US media reported on Tuesday that an ICE operation focused on the Somali community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area would be carried out within the next few days.
Illegal aliens will be rounded up for deportation in sweeps by ICE agents, the Associated Press reported, citing people familiar with the plan.
At least 100 ICE agents are expected to flood the area. The New York Times also reported, citing people close to the plan, that Somalis seeking legal status could also be wiped out.
In recent months, ICE raids on illegal aliens have occurred in multiple states, including Chicago, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, and Phoenix. Through October, at least 527,000 people have been deported from the United States since the Trump administration took office in January, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned the Minneapolis plan in a post on X on Tuesday, saying that while the state welcomes assistance in prosecuting crimes, “public relations stunts and indiscriminate targeting of immigrants are not real solutions to the problem.”
City officials also condemned President Trump’s attacks on the Somali community at a news conference Tuesday and vowed not to cooperate with ICE agents conducting immigration screenings.
“Obviously, this is a scary moment for our Somali community,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, describing the potential move as an “act of terrorism.”
“That’s not American. That’s not what we’re about,” he said. “To our Somali community, we love you and we stand with you.”
“I know that many families are feeling anxious…The city of Minneapolis stands behind you,” Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman, who came to the United States from Somalia at the age of 14, said at a news conference.
“Somali-Americans are here to stay,” he added. “We love this state. We love this country. This is home. We’re not going anywhere.”
yes. On November 21, President Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that the state would end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants in Minnesota “immediately,” referring to the program designed to provide emergency shelter to people in crisis. Approximately 705 Somalis are participating in the program.
President Trump claimed without evidence that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of our great state” and accused Governor Walz of overseeing a state that has become a “center of illicit money laundering activity.”
“Send them back to where they came from,” President Trump said. “it’s over!
President Trump’s accusations regarding the Somali community came after conservative activist Christopher Rufo published in City Journal on November 19 allegations of welfare fraud against Somalis in Minnesota.
In the report, Rufo cited unnamed “counterterrorism sources” and detectives who claimed that Somalis benefiting from U.S. welfare programs were sending large remittances home, some of which went to al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabaab, which controls some rural parts of Somalia.
One of the programs Rufo mentioned was fraudulent. Implemented the $300 million privately funded Feeding Our Future philanthropic program. The program falsely claimed to be feeding millions of children during the COVID-19 crisis and instead stole state funds.
Federal prosecutors have convicted the white ringleader, Amy Bock, and several Somali-Americans.
In July, Somalia became one of 12 countries whose citizens are subject to a U.S. travel ban. Similar travel bans were in place during the first Trump administration.
Why did Trump target Ilhan Omar?
President Trump also made derogatory remarks about Democratic Rep. Omar, calling her “trash” during Tuesday’s attack.
Omar, 43, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia in 1995 as a child, has represented a Minnesota district in Congress since 2019 and has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration.
“She’s incompetent. She’s a really bad human being,” Trump said Tuesday, adding without evidence that Omar is an anti-Semite who “hates everyone.”
Trump’s verbal attacks on Omar are not new. The president has repeatedly criticized the representative, routinely criticizing her hijab and the way she dresses.
Omar on Tuesday fired back at President Trump’s recent comments, saying, “His obsession with me is creepy.”
His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he so desperately needs. https://t.co/pxOpAChHse
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 2, 2025
Omar also pushed back against claims that Minnesota funds were diverted to al-Shabaab or that Somali gangs are rampant in the state. “If you have evidence, I would ask you to present it,” she said at a news conference last week. “We cannot sacrifice an entire community for the actions of a few.”
There are currently approximately 260,000 people of Somali descent living in the United States, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey. They are one of the largest Somali communities outside of Somalia, with major diaspora communities also located in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, and Canada.
Some Somalis came to the United States as students in the 1960s after Somaliland, then a British colony, gained independence. Then came a larger wave of people fleeing the troubled East African country’s protracted civil war, sparked by armed resistance to the military regime of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. This situation lasted from 1988 to 2000, but the government continued to fight rebels and armed groups.
Most Somalis in the United States live in Minnesota, where many social programs are in place, particularly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is home to 63,000 people of Somali descent. According to World Population Review, states such as Ohio (21,000), Washington (15,000), Virginia (3,953), Georgia (3,538), and California also have significant populations.
What happened to the Somali diaspora in the United States?
Minneapolis is home to hundreds of Somali businesses, primarily in the retail and food service industries, including restaurants, grocery stores, and clothing stores.
A 2017 report in local newspaper Minpost said Somalis who arrived in the state during the civil war in their home country often faced difficulties learning English, but were able to find menial jobs such as in meat processing plants.
As the community grew, more Somalis moved into finance, health care, and education. They also began to get involved in local politics. In 2019, Omar made history as the first Somali-American member of the U.S. Congress.
The average age of Somalis in Minnesota is as young as 19 years old, according to a 2023 report from the Minnesota state government. Most (53,000 people) speak English with professional or limited proficiency, but this group is also one of the least educated of the state’s foreign population.
Although Somalis are often said to be active in the labor force, the number of employed Somali men is greater than that of women. Contrary to President Trump’s claims that Somalis do not work in the United States, about 84% of Somali refugee men between the ages of 25 and 64 are employed in Kentucky, compared to 64% of women, according to a 2016 report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
Approximately 58 percent of Somalis in Minnesota were born in the United States. Approximately 87 percent of people born abroad are naturalized citizens. Almost half of this group entered the United States after 2010.
U.S. authorities have struggled in the past to prevent the recruitment of young Somali-Americans by al-Shabaab and other armed groups. In 2007, more than 20 Somali-American men traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab. However, only a few cases have been reported since then. In September, a 23-year-old Minnesota man pleaded guilty to attempting to join a scheduled armed group.
Minneapolis has one of the most vibrant Somali-American communities in the country. The city works every day to make Minneapolis a welcoming place for everyone, regardless of immigration status. Details: https://t.co/FYJkJO3ZXx pic.twitter.com/t2Y8LwDVoX
— City of Minneapolis (@CityMinneapolis) December 2, 2025
