Uplifting Local Voices in Minnesota
For decades, communities across Minnesota have welcomed immigrants and other newcomers - a place to seek safety, raise their kids, continue their careers, and find a sense of belonging. These communities have remained committed to welcome regardless of the federal government’s pursuit of dangerous immigration enforcement actions across the state.
These actions have only increased harm to newcomers and long-time Minnesotans alike. Families have been torn apart and entire populations have been the target of hate, racism, and misinformation with no regard to how the Somali community, which has been particularly misrepresented, has cared for the state of Minnesota as healthcare workers, neighbors, and friends. Tragically, a Minnesotan who was bravely standing alongside her immigrant community members to witness these actions was fatally killed by those same enforcement officials who have been causing pain and fear over the last several weeks.
Minnesotans are saying no more. We are proud to join them and our partner in the Twin Cities, the Center for Victims of Torture, in elevating local voices and stories, sharing critical information that highlights the truth about newcomers in Minnesota, and ways we can all get involved.
Minnesota Voices to Amplify:
“This would not have happened but for the unprecedented, unjustified militarized enforcement across the country and now in Minneapolis. The atmosphere this enforcement has created and now exacerbated by what happened has created a climate of terror. This is what our clients have fled. People, including CVT clients, seek refuge in the United States because they are fleeing these very types of overly militarized enforcement actions. Our clients, survivors of torture, are terrified. They are experiencing increased suicidal ideation, are afraid to go to work, afraid to leave their homes.” - Alison Beckman, the Center for Victims of Torture’s Senior Clinician for External Relations and the Refugee Advocacy Lab’s Minnesota State Lead
“My community is vibrant and deeply woven into the fabric of Minnesota. We cannot allow false narratives and intentional lies to divide us or create chaos and fear. Somali people are doctors, healers, educators, creators, entrepreneurs, and more, strengthening our communities every day. In the face of devastating attacks and harmful rhetoric, we must respond with strength by protecting one another, standing in solidarity, and refusing to let hate dictate who belongs.” - Halima Hamud, a Minnesota-based community leader and Refugee Storytellers Collective member
“This is a moment where all of us, in Minneapolis and beyond, we can rise to the occasion. We can show them who we are. We can show them the kind of courage, bravery, love and compassion that makes Minneapolis Minneapolis, and that makes America America. We are better than a bunch of ICE agents being deployed to cities around the country and ripping apart families and communities. We’re better than that, and so we are going to meet that hate with love. We are going to meet that despair with hope...Let’s show them who we can be. Let’s show up with peace. March, protest, hug one another, love all the way with peace. ” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
“Public safety is strongest when law enforcement can focus on real threats and when communities trust that they will be treated fairly and with dignity. What we’re seeing is not about public safety - it’s political theater that creates fear and weakens trust.” — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
“Minnesotans still believe that we all do better when we all do better. That’s exactly why we stand with our Somali neighbors just as strongly as we stand with all our neighbors. In Minnesota, anyone who tries to come for our neighbors has to come through all of us.” - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
“The Somalis I know, and I know many, are businesspeople, drivers, hourly workers supporting their families, investors, nurses, students, and clerics — just like how my ancestors turned out… I suggest you meet some of my Somali friends and see for yourself how they are woven into Minnesota's fabric of work, family, and community.” — Republican State Senator Jim Abeler’s Letter to the President
“One day, if we stand up as leaders and as a community, we can get to the other side of this ugly, avoidable moment where our immigrant friends and neighbors and family members are being targeted with relentless and senseless cruelty. Stand with me as I stand with our Somali community and all immigrants in Minnesota. You are not alone. We have your backs.” — State Representative Sandra Feist
“Minnesota is lucky to have the largest Somali population in the country. They are our friends, our students, our teammates, our coworkers, and our neighbors. They are Minnesotans. And here in Minnesota, we have each other’s backs.” - State Representative Athena Hollins
“We reject these efforts to sow division and terrorize our city. Somali Minnesotans are an essential and cherished part of our city and state. We cannot, and do not want to, imagine a Minneapolis without our Somali residents. They are our neighbors, family members, elected officials, doctors, teachers, and more.” — The Minneapolis House Delegation’s Official Statement
“Our work as a police department depends on the community, which includes immigrant communities. Everyone must feel safe seeking help, reporting crimes, and working with our officers.” - Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O'Hara
“Dehumanizing slurs targeting an entire community of Minnesotans is not acceptable from anyone. As a proud descendent of immigrants, I stand with our New American Communities and I am glad to see the City of Moorhead do the same.” - State Senator Rob Kupec
“The greatness of a nation is not measured by whom it casts out, but by whom it gathers in. To demean any part of our community is to weaken freedom itself. And we who cherish that freedom must answer such maligning rhetoric with the calm but unyielding conviction that every person who contributes to the life of the nation has a rightful place within it.” - Edina Mayor James B. Hovland
“When hatred seeks to divide us, we come together. When fear threatens one community, all communities rise up as one to speak up.” - St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson
“Somali Americans are part of our Labor Movement and have been contributing to Minnesota communities for more than three decades – just like every generation of immigrants and refugees that have decided to call our great state home. Union members refuse to let anyone, even the President of the United States, divide us based on what we look like, where we were born, or how we pray.” - Minnesota AFL-CIO
“For those who long for community, we are called to extend open arms. For those who long for safety, we are called to be a refuge. For those who long for justice, we are called to work together for a better world... May this season inspire us to make room — not only in our hearts but in our communities — for those seeking shelter and hope.” - More than a dozen faith leaders in a letter to the West-Central Tribune
Other Facts to Uplift:
According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s February 2025 report on the Economic Contributions of New Americans in Minnesota, “immigration became Minnesota’s leading driver of population growth from 2020-2024, accounting for 94% of net gains in population” and has helped “to mitigate historic workforce shortages in the post-pandemic period.”
Immigrants and refugees in Minnesota make vital contributions to the state’s economy, contributing more than $6 billion in local, state and federal taxes; holding $17B in spending power, and driving local economic growth as an outsize share of entrepreneurs and the workforce. In the Twin Cities, immigrants make up more than 10 percent of the population and account for more than 13 percent of entrepreneurs and the local labor force.
As reported by the New York Times, U.S. Census Data shows that almost 75 percent of Somali immigrants are U.S. Citizens. There are over 40,000 Somali immigrants living in Minnesota - the highest percentage per capita in any state - and few of them have Temporary Protected Status.
How You Can Support:
The Center for Victims of Torture is the Lab’s Minnesota state partner, an independent, non-government organization based in St. Paul that provides torture survivors with support as they rebuild their lives including clinics in St. Cloud, St. Paul, and the Twin Cities. If you’re able, you can support them financially here or join them in supporting the Somali community
Follow the lead of Minneapolis City Council Members Aisha Chughtai, Jason Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury, Jamal Osman and support local, immigrant-owned businesses in Minneapolis.
Support Monarca and the Immigrant Defense Network who are leading legal observe work in Minnesota.
We must be intentional in creating welcoming communities and, as a start, check out the #WeWillWelcome pledge, which is a national call to action to commit to a small act of welcome in your community.
The Lab will continue to share resources, opportunities for engagement, and tools for our partners across the field to push for accurate narratives, support inclusive policies, and build capacity for the critical work of partners on the ground.