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Somali refugee calls out his own community over fraud, pressure to reject assimilation

Somali refugee Abdi Iftin discusses Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal and the community pressure he faced not to assimilate on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., usually quick to denounce anything he views as a scandal (including most of what the Trump administration does), has been uncharacteristically silent about the billion-dollar Minnesota social services fraud indictments. Understandable perhaps, because of the embarrassment it’s causing for Minnesota governor and former vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz and Minnesota’s progressive darling Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose Somali constituents are among the ringleaders — but whom left-wary Schumer is loath to alienate as he faces re-election.  

But were Schumer to look back at his own legislative record, he could find a relevant and constructive response — one that might even help Democrats still lost on immigration-related issues in the wake of the Biden-era de facto open border. 

In 2013, Schumer was one of a so-called Gang of Eight senators — including then-Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio — to sponsor a sprawling immigration law reform bill, the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act." The so-called "comprehensive" bill included everything from a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants to an increase in visas for foreign student in STEM fields — proposals even more likely to spark Republican opposition today than they did in 2013 when the bill died in the House after actually passing the Senate.  

DAVID MARCUS: WHITE GUILT, APATHY FUEL MASSIVE CORRUPTION IN MINNESOTA

Schumer insisted that "piecemeal reforms" should not be considered — but one aspect of the bill that he endorsed could serve him — and centrist Democrats — well today, were he willing to revive it. The proposed Office of Citizenship and New Americans put the Senate leader squarely behind what was once called Americanization or assimilation, and more lately immigrant "integration." It took as a given that immigrants from countries that don’t share American legal and cultural norms should be exposed to them — in the process of their being taught English. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer once had a plan to boost integration for new immigrants. (Screenshot/ABC)

An "Office of Citizenship and New Americans" would be responsible "for training on citizenship responsibilities for new immigrants," including "information about English and citizenship education programs," according to the American Immigration Council. Passing a citizenship test, keep in mind, requires a knowledge of the Constitution and the U.S. legal system. 

Aiming, too, for "upward economic mobility," it’s the sort of initiative that would have been ideal for Minneapolis Somalis, some 90,000 of whom count Somali as the first language and come from a country ranked as one of the most corrupt in the world. Transparency International, in fact, gives it a score of just 9/100, making it the 179th of 180 countries, or the second-most-corrupt government in the world. It’s actually gotten even worse since 2023, when it ranked 177th. Only war-torn South Sudan ranks lower. 

WHISTLEBLOWER WARNS MASSIVE FRAUD IS HAPPENING IN OHIO SOMALI COMMUNITY, MINNESOTA ‘JUST TIP OF THE SPEAR’

In other words, immigration to a historic clean government state like Minnesota would be a cultural adjustment for Somalis, putting them in a position to take advantage of overly trusting locals. 

The U.S. has historically profited from immigration by promoting values such as trust, integrity and the rule of law — and the idea that the best way to move up is to adopt those values. It’s a tradition that dates to the early 20th century immigration wave, when hundreds of volunteer-led "settlement houses" taught English and prepared immigrants to be citizens.

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