In a remarkable display of chutzpah, Somali activists from the group Neighbors United held a press conference on Friday to demand reparations for the Somali-owned businesses they claim suffered economic harm from the recently concluded ICE raids in Minnesota.
While the surreal event can be viewed in its entirety via FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, the excerpt attached to the social media post below captures the essence of the Somali demands.
A spokeswoman for the group demanded that Somali businesses with revenue of less than $200,000 be compensated for their losses. (Try making that demand in Somalia.)
She also called for an end to evictions of Somali families unable to pay their rent.
We believe programs fit into our criteria. For Somali small business owners, not those who makes $200,000 and above. We don’t make that much amount. We have been suffering since the crisis of ICE.We also demand an immediate help to evictions so families are not pushed to homelessness during the crisis.
She said, “Our community deserves accountability. Our community deserves safety. We need also justice for those who lost their lives defending the community.”
As audacious and entitled as these demands may be, the language on the group’s website is even more presumptuous. The homepage screams, “WE ARE NEIGHBORS UNITED. … AN ORGANIZATION STARTED BY MEMBERS OF THE SOMALI COMMUNITY AT KARMEL MALL IN MINNEAPOLIS TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE IN THE WAKE OF RACIST ICE ATTACKS. … ICE OUT! REPAIR THE DAMAGE!”
The group then itemizes its “demands” of Gov. Tim Walz, who has proposed “a meager $10M in loans to only those businesses who make over $200K a year” to compensate for losses sustained in Minneapolis “due to racist ICE terror.” They appeal to the embattled governor to do something for smaller businesses, those facing eviction from their homes and business spaces, and more.
It’s worth noting that after border czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown of ICE agents in the state, Walz called on the federal government to “pay for what they broke.” The governor claimed that ICE’s presence in Minnesota had left behind “deep damage” and “generational trauma.”
At any rate, the race card has actually been a very effective defense for Somalis accused of fraud. In November, journalists Christopher Rufo and R.K. Thorpe published an explosive report that alleged massive Medicaid fraud among members of the Somali community.
The report quoted former Minnesota State Sen. David Gaither, who said that when members of the Somali community come under legal scrutiny, they typically respond by alleging racial bias. He said, “Even if the facts don’t point to that, it allows for many folks in the middle, or on the center-Left, to stay silent.”
According to Gaither, “the mainstream media, alongside Minnesota’s Democratic establishment, have long turned a blind eye to fraud within the Somali community. This, in turn, allowed the problem to metastasize.
Gaither concluded, “If you’re a politician, it’s a significant disadvantage for you to alienate the Somali community. If you don’t win the Somali community, you can’t win Minneapolis. And if you don’t win Minneapolis, you can’t win the state. End of story.”
After allegations of fraud inside the Somali community exploded in December, few Americans are likely to sympathize with the new demands for reparations.
Judging from the reactions on social media to news of Neighbors United’s Friday press conference, they needn’t have bothered.
Here are a few of the responses:
And finally:
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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