JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
For the second day in a row, President Trump denigrated Somali people yesterday.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Look at their nation. Look how bad their nation is. It's not even a nation. It's just a - people walking around killing each other.
SUMMERS: Speaking from the White House, he also called for the removal of Somali people, especially from Minnesota, where the Somali community numbers around 80,000 people.
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TRUMP: The Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country, and all they do is complain, complain, complain.
SUMMERS: Ahead of an expected increase of federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, targeting the Somali community, local officials spoke up in support.
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JACOB FREY: When people are arrested by federal immigration agents, they're going to get the wrong people. They're going to screw it up so badly that they're not just violating habeas corpus, but they are taking away the rights of American citizens.
SUMMERS: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, in the Somali language, we love you. We stand with you. We aren't backing down. Let's hear now from the Twin Cities. Katelyn Vue is a reporter from Sahan Journal. That's a news outlet focused on the immigrant population in Minnesota. Katelyn, welcome.
KATELYN VUE: Hi. Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: Thanks for being here. Katelyn, if you could just start by telling us, what do we know so far about federal immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities this week?
VUE: We started hearing tips that about a hundred federal agents were flown into Minnesota Monday night, and then enforcement started right away. There was, like, an uptick of what immigration advocate groups were seeing, focused on targeting the Somali community. There were reports from Brooklyn Park to St. Cloud to St. Paul and Minneapolis.
SUMMERS: In your most recent story, it noted that only about 4,200 of the more than 80,000 Somalis living in Minnesota are not U.S. citizens, and many of those 4,200 have permanent residency green cards. Is it clear at this point what federal immigration authorities are targeting here?
VUE: Well, we saw, like, President Donald Trump revoked temporary protected status for Somali Americans across the country. And that's about 700. That's a small number of people. But in Minnesota, we have the largest Somali population here. So we're thinking that a lot of the folks that have TPS reside in Minnesota, and I think a smaller fraction of that are undocumented here.
SUMMERS: We've heard from state and local government officials, including the mayors of the Twin Cities, and they've expressed a lot of verbal support. But I'm curious. What have you been hearing from leaders within the Somali community about how they're feeling and experiencing this now?
VUE: Yeah. So yesterday, I spent a lot of time in these hubs where there's a lot of Somali Minnesotans in Cedar-Riverside and in Karmel Mall. And a lot of the residents I was talking to, they're kind of feeling like they're being used as a scapegoat, that it's used as a distraction, sort of like a political tactic. That's what they're describing what's happening.
SUMMERS: Now, part of what's prompted the latest round of criticism from President Trump is the sprawling fraud scheme in which dozens of people in Minnesota have been either charged or convicted of federal crimes related to stealing pandemic relief funding. And many of them are Somali people. What has been the response to all of that within the community there?
VUE: Well, a lot of folks that I've talked to who are Somali residents and Somali elected officials are saying that the FBI investigation on that fraud that you're talking about - that is a small number of folks in the Somali community. There's 80,000 that are here. So they're just saying that this small number of folks don't reflect the entire community.
SUMMERS: We've mentioned that more of 80,000 Somalis now live in Minnesota. Historically, why does the state house so many people, such a big chunk of the Somali diaspora?
VUE: You know, Minnesota has been a state that has always been very accepting of refugees. Not only is there a big Somali population here, there's also a big Hmong population here. Somalia - there was a civil war that happened there. The national government collapsed and so that led to a lot of them fleeing to Minnesota. There's also - Minnesota's a state that has a lot of opportunities, a lot of great education and training for jobs. So they've really helped support Minnesota's growth and businesses, increasing the population and helping a lot of other immigrant communities that are also here.
SUMMERS: Katelyn Vue reports on immigration for the Minnesota news outlet, Sahan Journal. Thank you so much.
VUE: Yeah. Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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