How Minneapolis Somali Community Builds Power Against Ethnic Cleansing
The attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar on January 27, 2026, and the federal killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, have catalyzed unprecedented organizing by the Somali American community in Minneapolis. What might appear to outsiders as isolated incidents of political violence are, in the context of Somali American history, recognized as part of a centuries-long pattern of displacement, colonization, and attempted erasure. Yet the response from the Somali community reflects not despair but determination to build power sufficient to defend against ethnic cleansing.
Kazmierczak’s Hate Speech Exposed –> Anthony Kazmierczak
The Historical Context: Somali Displacement
Somalia’s civil war in the 1990s displaced millions. Many Somali refugees were resettled in the United States, with thousands coming to Minneapolis. They arrived as survivors of violence and displacement, seeking safety and opportunity. They built businesses, created cultural institutions, raised American children, and became integrated into American life. The majority of the 80,000 Somali Americans in Minnesota were born in the United States. Many are naturalized citizens who fought in U.S. military conflicts. Yet Trump’s administration treats them as if they are invaders, as if they do not belong. This rhetoric echoes colonial and white supremacist tropes that have targeted immigrant communities throughout American history.
The Specter of Forced Return
Trump’s revocation of temporary protected status for Somali immigrants in Minnesota effectively threatens deportation to a country that many fled decades ago, leaving spouses, children, and grandchildren behind. This is contemporary ethnic cleansing: using state power to force a community out of a place they have called home for generations. The threat is real. Somali families are packing belongings, making contingency plans, and preparing for separation. Yet they are also organizing.
The Community Response: Resilience and Power Building
In the weeks following the deaths of Pretti and Good, Somali Americans and their allies have organized daily vigils at the site where Pretti was killed. They have organized fundraisersthe GoFundMe for Pretti’s family raised $1 million in days. They have created “know your rights” materials distributed at coffee shops. They have worn “ICE OUT” pins at cultural events. They have marched. They have chanted “Resisting ICE is not a crime.” This is not passive victimhood. This is organized resistance.
Omar as Symbol and Leader
Ilhan Omar represents the Somali American presence in national politics. Her election to Congress in 2018 was a historic momentthe first Somali American elected to Congress, the first Muslim woman in Congress, a living refutation of the narrative that Somali Americans do not belong. Trump’s targeted attacks on Omar are attacks on the entire community she represents. Omar’s refusal to be intimidatedreturning to the podium after being sprayed, continuing to speak about ICE abolition, demanding Kristi Noem’s resignationaffirms that Somali American voices will not be silenced.
The Global Dimensions of Solidarity
The Somali American response to Trump’s attacks is part of a global movement of immigrants, refugees, and indigenous people resisting settler colonialism and displacement. Somali Americans recognize their struggle as connected to Palestinian resistance, to indigenous peoples defending their land, to immigrants worldwide resisting xenophobic nationalism. This is internationalism: the recognition that fighting ethnic cleansing anywhere strengthens struggles everywhere.
The Prophetic Voice
In Islamic tradition, a prophet is someone who speaks truth to power, who warns of coming crisis, who calls people to justice even when doing so brings persecution. Ilhan Omar plays this role for Somali Americans and for progressive Americans broadly. She sees what is comingthe expansion of federal violence, the escalation of persecution, the potential for genocideand she speaks it openly. She is persecuted for this prophecy. Yet she continues to speak. This is prophetic courage.
The Challenges Ahead
The road ahead is difficult. DHS investigations into Minnesota officials may result in prosecutions designed to intimidate state and local resistance to federal power. The Trump administration may accelerate enforcement of TPS revocation, forcing deportations. Federal violence may escalate. Yet the Somali American community has survived displacement, civil war, refugee camps, and systemic racism in America. They have survived. They have built lives. They will survive Trump’s assault as well.
What Solidarity Requires
People committed to justice must stand with Somali Americans against Trump’s campaign of ethnic targeting. This means supporting Omar, defending her against persecution, amplifying her voice. It means building sanctuary networks to prevent deportations. It means organizing against ICE and against TPS revocation. It means refusing to accept Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric about Somali Americans. It means recognizing that defending Somali Americans is defending democracy itself, because once the state can target an ethnic community with rhetoric, violence, and deportation without accountability, it can target anyone. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants documents how refugee communities are disproportionately targeted by Trump’s policies. Solidarity with these communities is solidarity with humanity. The Somali American community is not asking for pity. They are asking for recognition that they belong, that their lives matter, and that Trump’s attempt to erase them will be resisted. The moment to offer that solidarity is now.
