Somali Americans hounded by ICE and rightwing ‘influencers’ on edge in Ohio: ‘I’m scared to go outside’ | Ohio

The men started showing up around 6 a.m. in late December.

In their cars, they drove around Daycare 161 in Columbus, before parking in front of the building. Then they sat in their car, opening their windows enough to tell the Somali Americans who own the daycare, “We’re exposing all of you. Every single one of you, you’re all coming home.”

Then, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, there was a break-in at the daycare.

“It broke my heart,” said Abukar Mohammed, co-owner of the business. “I never thought there would be racial phenomena in America, that this could happen in America. I was shocked.”

Last December, Donald Trump repeatedly used racist language to attack the Somali American community, saying that “Somalis are ripping off the country.”

Days later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched “Operation Buckeye” in what it called an effort to target “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Columbus and throughout Ohio.”

What followed for many Columbus-based Somali Americans, as well as the broader immigrant community, were months of unease and fear.

ICE agents appeared in cars around Somali businesses and schools that teach children of immigrant backgrounds. So-called right-wing “influencers,” including executives at Turning Point USA, followed suit.

Since then, Somali businesses have struggled to attract customers and schools have closed due to low attendance fueled by the presence of federal agents and anti-immigrant provocateurs.

Today, Columbus’ Somali community of about 60,000 people is still reeling from the aftermath.

“Before this happened, I thought the president would be a good president,” Mohammed said. “I’m afraid to go out. They drive, they swear, they say bad things.”

Influencers claimed that daycares and other daycares run by Somali Americans in Columbus, like in Minneapolis, were operating fraudulent establishments that were misusing government funds. The state of Ohio helps fund approximately 5,200 child care centers.

A statement from Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in December noted that the Department of Children and Youth received information from the public that resulted in the closure of 12 programs, or 0.2 percent of state-funded facilities statewide.

Even though the 161 child care centers that Mohammed co-owns passed Ohio state inspections last fall, they were not open when the campaign of intimidation fueled by Trump’s comments began.

Unlike Minnesota’s Somali community, which enjoys broad support from the state’s Democratic government, in Ohio, right-wing politicians have targeted it and other immigrant communities. Two Republican representatives from Ohio have proposed a bill to introduce recording equipment installed in all daycares and residential facilities that receive state funding.

Recently, the Ohio Legislature released a series of proposals that would require law enforcement to cooperate with ICE agents. In contrast, the Columbus City Council on Feb. 23 passed a law prohibiting local law enforcement from conducting federal immigration enforcement and city employees of ICE and U.S. Border Control without prior council approval.

“Our community works hard, follows regulations and values ​​education,” said Kawther Musa, community relations manager for the city of Columbus, who left Somalia when he was 15 years old.

“But unfortunately, when communities grow and become visible, they sometimes face backlash. Hate speech and cyberbullying must be seriously investigated. At the same time, leaders must be careful not to inflame tensions.”

Columbus’ Somali community emerged after tens of thousands of refugees fled war and unrest in the East African country in the 1990s. Today, many work in health care and distribution centers in central Ohio and own about 500 businesses concentrated north of downtown Columbus along Cleveland Avenue, said Hassan Omar of the Somali Community Association of Ohio, who arrived in Ohio’s capital in 1998.

But Omar said it’s not just Columbus daycares and daycares that have been targeted. He claims to have received death threats and other racist messages to his voicemail in recent weeks.

“[The called me] “You bastard, go back to Somalia,” I don’t know how they got my cell number,” he said. “It’s not normal.”

The organization’s office, located next to an outdated shopping center, was also targeted by right-wing influencers pointing their phones at the door of the association, which provides social services to the local Somali community.

“He would stand in front of the door all day, taking pictures,” Omar said of one incident.

More worrying, he added, is the fate of the approximately 2,500 Somali nationals in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which is set to end on March 17.

“The TPS for Somalis was enacted in 1991,” he says. “So imagine someone who has lived here for 36 or 37 years [and now] we have to go back. »

The end of TPS for Somalis comes at a time when the World Food Program says it may be forced to end emergency food aid to Somalia due to a lack of funding from the United Nations.

The World Bank ranks Somalia among the world’s poorest countries in terms of gross domestic product and more than 6.5 million people face an acute food crisis in the East African country.

Additionally, the US State Department has issued a “do not travel” warning to Somalia due to, among other things, “crimes, terrorism, civil unrest.” The Trump administration is ending TPS for Somalis despite the ongoing threat from the terrorist group al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia and was the subject of U.S. military airstrikes in the country last May.

Mohammed, who came to the United States in the early 2000s via South Africa after fleeing war in Somalia, said he had to install a new security system at the daycare.

“When I was trying to leave, people outside would say things to me like, ‘you bought your clothes with our money,'” he says.

In addition, he attributes the shortage of customers to the presence of unidentified people gathered in the parking lot.

“I already had financial difficulties opening this daycare. »