Minnesota’s Somali community has found itself at the center of attention due to a significant fraud scandal that has caught the eye of state authorities.
The controversy has already led to significant political consequences, as Minnesota’s Democratic Governor, Tim Walz, decided to withdraw from the gubernatorial race last week. This decision occurred even before a separate incident involving an ICE officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman, further thrusting Minnesota into the national spotlight.
Polling by the Daily Mail, conducted on January 5 and 6, prior to the ICE shooting, reveals that the fraud scandal is influencing American perceptions of Somali immigrants.
According to the J.L. Partners poll, Somali immigrants are viewed less favorably than any other immigrant group.
In fact, they were the only group to receive a net negative favorability rating.
Of those surveyed, 30% of registered voters believed that Somali immigrants have had a negative impact on the United States.
That’s higher than the 24 percent who said they made a good impact and the 29 percent who viewed the community neutrally.
For years, President Donald Trump has slammed Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, the highest-profile member of the community, mocking her at a rally-like event in Pennsylvania in December for wearing a ‘little turban.’
Men take part in a weekly Friday Jum’ah prayer session at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Centre amid a reported ongoing federal immigration operation targeting the Somali community in Minneapolis on December 5
This week, Vice President JD Vance noted ‘America has a bit of a Somali problem’ when talking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters about the Minnesota scandal.
Democrats, on the other hand, have charged that the fraud scandal is a way to further demonize a vulnerable group.
When broken down by party, 46 percent of Republicans viewed Somali immigrants negatively, versus 32 percent of independents and just 15 percent of Democrats.
When the question was flipped, 30 percent of Democrats said Somali immigrants made a positive impact on the United States, with more – 35 percent – saying they were neutral.
Twenty-two percent of independents said that Somalians made a positive impact, with 31 percent saying they were neutral.
And among Republicans, 19 percent said the Somali community made a positive impact, with 20 percent of GOP voters staying neutral.
Other groups that had single-digit ratings included Colombians, with a net rating of positive two, and Venezuelans and Haitians, who each received a positive-six.
Chinese immigrants were given a plus-13 net rating.
A member of the Somali immigrant community in Minneapolis holds out her U.S. passport as immigration action has heightened in the community on the heels of a massive fraud scandal
A demonstrator waves a flag of Somalia as a vehicle passes by a rally in protest against ICE in Minneapolis on Thursday
African and Mexican immigrants had a plus-23 rating, Indian immigrants had a positive 29, and Filipinos had a positive 33.
The groups that got the best ratings from American voters were the British and the Europeans, with immigrants from the United Kingdom receiving a plus-44 rating and immigrants from the European Union receiving a plus-43 rating.
Broken down, both the British and the Europeans got 51 percent of voters to say that they made a good impact on the United States.
The United Kingdom got its slight edge over Europe because 7 percent of U.S. voters said the British made a bad impact on the United States, while 8 percent said that of those coming from EU countries.
The survey was conducted using 999 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
