Somalis found refuge in a small Minnesota town, but now they're afraid to leave their homes

A Somali grocery store sign in Willmar, Minn.
(Photo via Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota)

Over the past 30 years, the small farming town of Willmar, Minnesota, has become home to Somali families fleeing civil war and famine. The community of roughly 20,000 residents has welcomed so many Somalis that "a lively stretch downtown is called 'Little Mogadishu' because Somalis run more than a dozen storefront businesses," reports Joe Barrrett of The Wall Street Journal.

Despite their dedication to family and entrepreneurial contribution, many Willmar Somalis are afraid to leave their homes after "President Donald Trump lashed out against immigrants from Somalia, calling them 'garbage' and saying he doesn’t want them in the U.S.," Barrett writes. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have reportedly intensified raids in Minnesota after Trump's comments. 

Somalis across Minnesota have already been "shaken by a sprawling fraud scandal that has put the state’s Somali community in the national spotlight and drawn Trump’s ire," Barrett explains. Federal prosecutors say dozens of people -- almost all of whom are from the Somali community -- used fake businesses to steal millions from the Federal Child Nutrition Program, beginning in April 2020.

Location of Willmar within Kandiyohi 
County (Wikipedia maps) 

Willmar leaders don't see the scandal as a fair representation of the Somali population living in the U.S. Willmar's mayor, Doug Reese, told Barrett, “I can honestly say I haven’t encountered any bad Somalis. I mean, there’s probably some, but by and large, they’re good people.”

If Willmar's Somalis were forced to leave, it would deeply wound the town's economy. Rollie Nissen, a 79-year-old Willmar Republican leader, told Barrett, "I don’t think [Trump] should be painting with a broad brush. We should get rid of the people who are here illegally, not ship everybody back to Somalia or Mexico or Venezuela.”