Mohamed Mohamed stayed up past 3 on Wednesday morning, tracking election results and hashing them out with friends. The following morning, the recent high school graduate grilled the instructor in a college prep class he takes in St. Paul: Would President-elect Donald Trump deport him to Somalia, two years after he arrived in Minnesota from an Ethiopian refugee camp?
"It's very scary for people," he said.
For members of Minnesota's Somali and other immigrant communities, Trump's election spurred anxiety — even as some said they were heartened by his speech early Wednesday calling for unity. Trump's victory came just days after a Twin Cities rally at which he suggested Somali refugees have put a strain the state, and vowed again to halt resettlements from parts of the world grappling with terrorism. It coincided with the election to the Minnesota House of Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American legislator in the United States.
Supporters of Trump's stance on immigration and resettlement said the close presidential race in Minnesota shows the president-elect's positions resonate with many of the state's voters. Trump had an especially strong showing in places like Stearns County, which have experienced recent demographic changes and tensions over the issue of new arrivals.
Trump has also vowed to repeal an Obama administration program that gave work permits and deportation reprieves to people brought to the United States as children; nearly 6,000 benefited from the program in Minnesota. He promised to step up deportations of immigrants living here illegally, particularly those with criminal convictions.
During his recent visit, Trump echoed comments he made during a Maine rally this past summer singling out Minnesota's Somali refugees. He has invoked a recent stabbing attack on shoppers at a St. Cloud mall and the case of nine Minneapolis men convicted in a plot to join ISIL as evidence of inadequate refugee vetting — even though the Somali-Americans involved grew up in the United States.
Jaylani Hussein, the head of CAIR-Minnesota, said members of the Somali and other Muslim communities fear Trump will act on policy proposals he has touted on the campaign trail, including more intense surveillance of these communities. Some worry that halting refugee resettlements from the Middle East and East Africa might prevent them from bringing over family members through the refugee family reunification program.
Hussein said he worries Trump's victory gives license to those out to stigmatize Muslim immigrant communities. But Hussein noted Trump struck a different tone during his victory speech and did not double down on some of his more controversial positions.