State Sen. Jim Abeler (R-MN) wrote a letter to President Donald Trump praising the Somali community and asking him not to call them “garbage.”
Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” that he does not want in the United States, during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Abeler wrote that he was “surprised” over the president’s comments.
“The Somalis I know, and I know many, are nothing of the sort. They are businesspeople, drivers, hourly workers supporting their families, investors, nurses, students, and clerics – just like how my ancestors turned out,” he wrote.
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Trump’s comments came in the wake of a fraud scandal in Minnesota, where 78 people, the majority of whom are Somali asylum-seekers, were indicted for allegedly defrauding state social service programs of over $1 billion.
During the Cabinet meeting, Trump unleashed on Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and the Somali community.
“We could go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” Trump said during the meeting. “She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage. These people aren’t people who work.”
Omar, who came to the United States from Somalia as a refugee and became a citizen 25 years ago, represents the nation’s largest Somali community.
In response to Trump’s comments, Abeler argued throughout the letter that many Somali immigrants came to the United States to escape the civil war and were “grateful for what America had to offer.”
“Coming here, they have borne children, started companies, worked hard, and rebuilt their lives,” He wrote. “Most are citizens, and virtually all are here legally.”
Trump announced in a Nov. 21 Truth Social post on Nov. 21 that he was ending the temporary protected status for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, citing the alleged fraud scheme as his reason for the move.
Abeler suggested in the letter that the president meet his Somali friends to see how “they are woven into Minnesota’s fabric.”
“Please join me and several dozen Somali men and women for an hour or two to see for yourself how fortunate we are to have them in our midst,” Abeler wrote.
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Abeler also requested that Trump not call the Somali community “garbage.”
“In the meantime, please do not call them ‘garbage,’” he wrote. “No man, woman or child is more or less in the eyes of our Lord God Most High, and none of them are trash.”