Community Responds to Trump Statements on Somali Refugees

In Donald Trump’s hour long speech he made multiple direct references to Somali refugees saying we must stop accepting them because the country they come from is “dangerous.”

“If his argument that Somalia is a terrorist country they used to say that about my relatives the Italians. They used to call the Italians criminals and no goods and they came into our country and we accepted them and you’re eating good pizza because of it today,” says Fargo local Tony Olsen.

Another Fargo local Nick Braaksma says, “Life as a New American is not always an easy transition, and there’s a lot of cooperation and collaboration that needs to happen there from both parties, but certainly no terrorists.”

Hukun Abdullahi is a Somali refugee and the Executive Director of the Afro American Development Association in Moorhead.

Abdullahi was not exactly in agreement with Trump’s statements.

“I don’t know how we are a threat financially because we are building the economy too. They came here to work, they came here to start their new life,”Abdullahi says.

Abdullahi prepared a written response to Trump’s statements as well in which he says people’s willingness to accept Trump’s rhetoric results from a lack of awareness of the conditions refugees are fleeing from.

“Maybe they have neighbors who are Somalis, they never met with them they never talked to them. At least have them sit down with them talk to them and see how these people are doing and where they came from,” Abdullahi says.

He even issued a little challenge to Trump himself.

“Let him visit Moorhead and see what Somalis are doing too,” says Abdullah.

We’ll have to wait and see if Trump takes him up on that offer.