A group of Somali American imams, scholars and other leaders have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president because another Donald Trump presidency would be too devastating to their community, they said.
The coalition of 35 religious leaders and scholars endorsed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, following a recent three-day summit in St. Cloud, about 75 miles northwest of St. Paul, the state capitol.
“Donald Trump is actively promoting division and hatred, from his racist Muslim travel ban to his extremist Project 2025 plan,” said Imam Mohamed Mukhtar, one of the leaders. “We cannot stand by while he threatens our brothers and sisters in Palestine and fuels Islamophobia.”
Minnesota is home to the largest community of Somali immigrants in the United States, with a population of nearly 90,000 people who trace their origins to the East African country, according to a Minnesota Compass analysis of 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data.
Somalis began arriving in the United States as refugees after a civil war broke out in their country in 1991. Most of them ended up in Minnesota partly due to the midwestern state’s reputation as a friendly and welcoming place. Even with the wave of Islamophobia that swept the nation after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Minnesota remained a relatively tolerant state. However, things began to get worse when Trump began targeting Somalis with Islamophobic attacks, as he sought to win the Democratic-leaning state in the 2016 presidential election.
“Here in Minnesota, you’ve seen first-hand the problems caused with faulty refugee vetting, with very large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state without your knowledge, without your support or approval,” multiple media quoted Trump saying at a campaign rally.
When Trump became president, one of the first executive orders he signed was to ban travel from predominantly Muslims countries, including Somalia. Throughout his presidency, he continued his assault on the Somali community, often through racist rants against Rep. Ilhan Omar, a U.S. congresswoman from Minnesota, who was born in Somalia.
Since Trump entered politics, there have been more blatant racist and Islamophobic attacks on Somalis in Minnesota, including dozens of incidents of violence and vandalism of mosques. In 2020, Imam Mukhtar himself was the victim of violent assault by two teenagers, who attacked him outside his mosque in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis. The attack left him with two fractures on his left shoulder.
In August, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) reported that there were 33 incidents of attacks on mosques during the previous three years. And in the first half of 2024, there were nearly 5,000 complaints about cases of bias against Muslim communities, an increase of 69%, compared to the same period in 2023, according to CAIR-MN. Trump’s racist rhetoric has continued as he seeks to return to the White House, and Somalis now fear that another four years of him as president would be devastating to their community.
Mohamed Abdi Wardere, one of the men tasked with distributing the message of the leaders to the community through media, urged Somalis who are U.S citizens to turn up in numbers on Nov. 5 to exercise their constitutional right to vote. He said the stakes in the upcoming elections were higher than ever for the Somali community.
“If Trump comes back [to the White House, Somalis] will be the first people he will hurt,” Wardere said. “We have to participate and actually be a part of the decision-making process in America.”
Wardere said the 35 leaders were not part of any organization and only came together as individuals to make the joint statement. In their statement, they made it clear that their endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket was not without reservation. The leaders said they were deeply troubled by the ongoing violence against the people of Gaza and Lebanon, and called for an immediate ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid, and an end to Israel’s occupation so that Palestinians may have the right to self-determination.
“While the coalition stands firmly behind the Harris-Walz ticket, [it] also vehemently opposes specific policies, particularly regarding Gaza and Lebanon,” the statement said. “Despite these disagreements, Trump’s policies pose an even more significant threat to the rights and dignity of marginalized communities, both in the U.S. and abroad.”
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About Edwin Okong'o - Mshale Contributing Editor
Edwin Okong'o is a Mshale Contributing Editor. Formerly he was the newspaper's editor.
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