Somali Minnesotans deserve fair governance — not scapegoating and not special protections

Somali Minnesotans have unfairly been forced to answer for the actions of a very few, following a recent string of shootings involving Somali youth and continued revelations about large-scale fraud schemes in our social service programs. Election season has only exacerbated this dynamic, with cynical politicians deploying Somali Minnesotans as a political cudgel. 

Public safety and fraud should be central campaign issues in this election, and candidates for public office should be able to talk about these issues without scapegoating.

Unfortunately, what we are seeing in Minnesota is yet another attempt by the right-wing propaganda machine to whip up hatred against Somali Americans. 

The president’s recent social media post instructing Minnesotans to “fight back” against their Somali neighbors deserves condemnation. This is just his latest incendiary smear job: About a year ago, the president called Somali Americans “garbage” while amplifying debunked vulture journalism. 

Operation Metro Surge came shortly thereafter — even though nearly 90% of Somali Minnesotans are U.S. citizens — resulting in the deaths of two Minnesotans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, at the hands of masked federal immigration agents, sent under the pretext of rooting out fraud. 

The Trump administration has hampered efforts to investigate the deaths of Good and Pretti, reportedly resulting in key federal prosecutors working on the Feeding Our Future and related Medicaid fraud cases to resign.

Short-staffed and inundated with immigration cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota has had to dismiss drug cases to focus on charging protesters, with some of those cases later dismissed. 

Moreover, federal judges across the country, including here in Minnesota, have sounded the alarm on the Trump administration’s relentless assault on our courts and the rule of law. 

Minnesota Republicans have been silent throughout this entire ordeal, when not cheering on Trump’s relentless focus on Minnesota and Somali Minnesotans. 

Two things can be true: Our community is being unfairly targeted based on the actions of a few, and those actions — gun violence and social service fraud — should be rooted out. The exploitation of these issues by bad-faith actors for political gain only highlights why our elected officials should address these matters substantively. Doing otherwise breeds resentment, erodes credibility and feeds harmful narratives.

The failure to address fraud in public programs — beginning with the first revelations of the Feeding Our Future scandal in early 2022 — has done exactly that. The fraud problem has eroded confidence in our government and its ability to manage safety net programs. 

The same could happen when it comes to the recent string of senseless shootings. Beginning about a decade ago — and here in Minnesota after the murder of George Floyd — progressive prosecutors were elected throughout the country.

They have made rehabilitation — rather than incarceration — a priority. They have a point: Most young people age out of crime, and far more should be done to invest in marginalized communities. But second and third chances for offenders cannot come at the expense of public safety, and spiraling rounds of Somali youth gun violence — exploited by racist demagogues — risk undermining the project to make the criminal justice system more humane. 

The overwhelming majority of Somali Minnesotans are law-abiding citizens and are just as horrified to see young men in our community engaging in senseless acts of violence. After all, the victims in these shootings, just as in the fraud cases that have made headlines, are also from our community. 

My community asks for what every citizen is owed: fair governance. That means without scapegoating, but also without special protection from accountability. Investigate and prosecute without fear or favor, but don’t blame an entire community.