President Trump ignited fierce controversy Tuesday during a televised cabinet meeting by referring to Somali immigrants in Minnesota as “garbage” and vowing to send them “back to where they came from,” while singling out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Somali-born naturalized citizen, with the same term.
The remarks, delivered amid reports of alleged fraud involving some members of Minnesota’s Somali community and a Treasury probe into possible diversion of funds to Al-Shabaab, were met with table-banging approval from Vice President JD Vance and praise from press secretary Karoline Leavitt as an “epic moment.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the president, stating he was right to highlight problems caused by “radical Somali migrants” and that affected Americans would celebrate his stance.
Unlike Trump’s 2018 “shithole countries” comment that drew bipartisan condemnation, Republican lawmakers remained silent this week.
Civil rights advocates and Somali American leaders described the language as dehumanizing.
Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh, who is Somali American, called the remarks “disgraceful” and warned they could fuel political violence against the community.
Jaylani Hussein of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said many community members, including some who voted for Trump, now fear for their safety.
Business owners in Minneapolis reported deserted streets and closed shops in the days following the president’s statements.
The rhetoric follows the fatal shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national, after which the administration paused immigration applications from 19 mostly non-European countries.
Critics, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and other Democrats, labeled Trump’s comments “xenophobic and unacceptable,” warning they could be exploited by extremist groups abroad.
In Somalia itself, residents expressed anger and urged their government to respond to what they called intolerable insults.