Abrego Garcias talks with MD Senator Chris Van Hollen
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
A perilous time for immigrants
I am proud, I am proud
I am proud of my forefathers and I say
They built this country
They came from far away
To a land they didn’t know
The same way you did, my friend
– from “Welcome Welcome
Emigrantes” by Buffy Ste.-Marie
One of many horrendous stories from the first few months of the second Trump administration is the high-profile case concerning Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran refugee who was a sheet metal apprentice with a US-citizen wife and child. Abrego Garcia is often reported as having been “deported illegally,” which is certainly true but inadequate. “Kidnapped,” “disappeared,” or “a victim of human trafficking” are all more apt descriptions of what happened to him than the neutral term “deported.”
More than 500 people gather in protest outside the El Salvador consulate
Abrego Garcia’s case is high profile because his family, friends, and union made it so, and because Senator Chris Van Hollen of his home state of Maryland actually flew to El Salvador and demanded to see him. However this and similar gross infringements of constitutional rights are happening daily and affecting thousands of people and their families and communities. All of this is underpinned by grotesque lies about where immigrants come from, who they are, and what they mean to our communities, our state and our nation. It has never been more important to know the truth and to fight for justice.
Here in MN, only a small number of all the cases in this jurisdiction have “made the news” as far as individual cases. Sahan Journal (sahanjournal.com) has had ongoing coverage of the cases of three Minnesota international students or former students who were detained by ICE in March. Doğukan Günaydın, a UMN STEM graduate student from the Republic of Türkiye (Turkey) was released May 22. Mohammed
Turkish graduate student Doğukan Günaydın released from ICE custody
Hoque, a MN State Mankato business major from Bangladesh, released May 6 and Aditya Harsono, an Indonesian environmental studies and business major at SW MN State University in Marshall was released on May 15. Court hearings indicated that Hoque and Harsono were likely targeted for protesting Trump administration policies. In all of these cases, student visas were revoked without notice.
More common is coverage of how the Trump administration’s ruthless and sometimes lawless attempts to selectively remove immigrants from the country have affected sections of the local immigrant community. For example, a recent order from Trump removed “temporary protected status” or TPS from Afghans given the status due to their collaboration with the US in its lost war against the Taliban. This has Afghans fearing for their lives. Another fear hanging in the air is Trump’s threats to “punish” sanctuary cities. Minneapolis is a sanctuary city, and has been threatened by Trump for other reasons as well, so everyone who cares about immigrants has been uneasy since, well, November, to be honest.
See the article “In First 100 Days, Trump 2.0 Has Dramatically Reshaped the U.S. Immigration System, but Is Not Meeting Mass Deportation Aims” and other articles at migrationpolicy.org for some deep analysis of the current situation.
Afghan Cultural Society
Why we welcome immigrants
We welcome immigrants because they’re fellow humans. It turns out that the right thing to do is right for our society too. Contrary to the right-wing xenophobe characterizations of immigrants, they are a group that includes professionals who work in our hospitals, clinics and schools; knowledgeable farmers who add to our food supply chains; and entrepreneurs who open restaurants, shops and art studios. They enrich our country and our culture.
I consulted mncompass.org and similar data sources to find details on exactly who our immigrant population is. According to Compass, there are about 495,000 foreign-born Minnesotans, comprising temporary and permanent residents, naturalized US citizens, and the undocumented.
A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III safely transported 823 Afghan citizen refugees from Hamid Karzai International
Airport following the fall of Kabul, Aug. 15, 2021. (Photo/U.S. Air Force)
Foreign-born residents comprise 9% of the state population, while nationally they account for close to 15% of all US residents.
The largest group of immigrants are Mexican, and, if you include other Spanish-speaking nationalities, Spanish is overwhelmingly the language other than English with the largest number of native speakers. Other significant national groups in the current immigrant population in Minnesota include those from Somalia, India, Ethiopia, Laos, Thailand, Kenya, Vietnam, China, and Liberia. See tinyurl.com/DKRatSSP-immigrants for all the details.
Compass says that about 75% of Minnesota’s foreign born population has jobs. Considering that many of the remaining 25% are either children or adult college students on study visas, it means they are mostly lawfully employed. A significant number have vital jobs in agriculture, health care, academia, and the hospitality industry, or they own and operate small businesses.
How we welcome immigrants
Here is a list of just some of the many cultural and welfare organizations active in Minnesota and providing support of all kinds to immigrant populations.
• Arrive Ministries arriveministries.org
• International Institute of MN iimn.org
• Immigrant Law Center of MN ilcm.org
• CAPI capiusa.org
CAPI table at Brooklyn Center
• COPAL copalmn.org
• CLUES clues.org
• Confederation of Somali Community in MN (no website)
• SE Asian Refugee Community Home (SEARCH) facebook.com/SEARCH.MN.org
• Isuroon isuroon.org
• Oromo Community of MN oromocommunitymn.org
• MCC Refugee Services mnchurches.org
• Unidos https://unidos-mn.org
• MIRAC miracmn.com/resources
Additionally, the Twin Cities has many cultural centers oriented to various immigrant communities, such as Soomal House of Art, the Somali 
Museum, the Afghan Cultural Society of MN, the Ukrainian-American Community Center, Centro Cultural Chicano, and the BORIKEN Cultural Center.
MN schools have excellent programs for immigrant children or the American children of immigrant parents. There are many Spanish Immersion programs from pre-K to the university level, and also instruction in languages such as Somali, Hmong, and Karen (the only one in the nation.) Minnesotans welcome immigrants!
