U.S. President Trump orders green cards from Somalia, other countries of "concern" to be reexamined

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Trump is now ordering that Somali green cards, along with those issued to 18 other countries deemed "of concern," be reexamined. It's the latest move made by the president, threatening the legal status of hundreds of Somali people in Minnesota, an issue that a right-wing activist claims came to his attention due to an article he co-authored. 

Trump's green card-related order came down on Thursday after officials said an Afghan national shot and critically injured two National Guard members on Wednesday. That evening, in his address to the nation, the president pivoted to criticising Minnesota's Somali population. 

"Hundreds of thousands of Somalians [sic] are ripping off our country and ripping apart that once great state," Mr Trump said. 

He made a similar claim, without evidence, in a post to Truth Social this past weekend. In that message, he stated that he would terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota, an action he does not have the authority to take on his own. That call is ultimately up to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who said there was no timeline yet on ending TPS for Somalis during a visit to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Sunday. 

Christopher Rufo took credit for all of this in a tweet on Nov. 21. Rufo, who helped create a political firestorm over "critical race theory," co-authored a report in the conservative magazine City Journal claiming that people sent millions of dollars stolen in high-profile fraud Minnesota fraud schemes to the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab. 

The report uses similar sources related to a 2018 story, one that the Office of the Legislative Auditor reviewed. OLA ultimately was "unable to substantiate" the allegation that Minnesotans sent money stolen from the state Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to a foreign terrorist organisation. 

However, the report also stated that they did not find proof showing that any amount of money ever found its way to a terrorist group in Somalia. 

"It is possible that the individuals who sent the money sent it intending to provide support to a terrorist organisation. It is also possible that individuals in Minnesota sent money to Somalia and other countries to help their families and friends pay for food, medicine, or shelter, but terrorists obtained the money through theft or extortion. All of these are possibilities, but for none of them did we find evidence to substantiate a connection between CCAP fraud money and support for a terrorist organisation," the review reads. 

City Journal's report focuses on the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme in the country. Dozens of people, including Somali nationals, have been convicted or are facing charges. Prosecutors have yet to present evidence in any of those cases alleging terrorism connections. 

Jaylani Hussein, executive director for CAIR Minnesota, said that it's clear that the City Journal's reporting is an attempt to stoke political division and attack Somali people. 

"This story has no legs," Hussein said. "Actions of any individual do not represent any community." 

Hussein pointed out that prosecutors have said that defendants in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme were primarily trying to make themselves rich, stealing funds for luxury items. 

"We believe that this is a targeted campaign, as we said earlier, against our community," Hussein. 

Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz indicated he would be open to a federal investigation into whether fraudulently obtained funds ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab.