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Rows of businesses stood shuttered inside a sprawling complex of Somali businesses on a recent afternoon.<\/p>\n
Karmel Mall in south\u00a0Minneapolis\u00a0contains more than a hundred small businesses in suites offering everything from clothing and food to insurance and accounting services. On Thursday, the noisy hallways inside lay quiet, save for occasional chatter between neighboring vendors. The smell of fried food still wafted from the bakeries, the central heating hummed and the sound of Quran recitation flowed quietly from some shops.<\/p>\n
But many sellers sat alone in their clothing stores, waiting for the occasional customer to walk by. Everyone is afraid of\u00a0federal immigration agents, business owners said. Sellers and customers, citizens and noncitizens. Some don\u2019t bother opening shop because they aren\u2019t expecting any customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been like this for three weeks now,\u201d said Abdi Wahid, who works at his mom\u2019s convenience store in the mall. \u201cEverywhere it\u2019s all been closed up, all the stores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karmel Mall is an economic hub for the area\u2019s Somali population, which is the\u00a0largest in the U.S.\u00a0But it also features housing, a mosque and Quran classes, serving as a robust community center for the area.<\/p>\n
The economic impact of the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cOperation Metro Surge\u201d stretches beyond the Somali community: many immigrants are on edge, afraid to go to work or leave their homes amid the\u00a0immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n
But President Donald Trump has made the Somali community a\u00a0special target\u00a0of his deportation rhetoric after a recent government fraud case in Minnesota included a number of Somali defendants. Since December, Trump has made numerous jabs at the community, calling them\u00a0\u201cgarbage\u201d\u00a0and saying \u201cthey contribute nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wahid said early afternoons at the family business once meant 15 to 20 customers. These days, it\u2019s tough to get one.<\/p>\n
Wahid is a citizen, but he said the fear extends beyond just immigrants. Citizens are also scared of coming in, especially following the killing of Renee Good and the ICE raid at Roosevelt High School in south Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that caused a lot of people to not even want to come,\u201d he said, because they could be targeted \u201cjust because of their race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that law enforcement uses \u201creasonable suspicion\u201d to make arrests under the fourth amendment.<\/p>\n
\u201cA person\u2019s immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race or ethnicity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Upstairs, Bashir Garad runs Safari Travel & Accounting Services. Not only has the crackdown in Minneapolis meant he\u2019s lost almost all his customers, but his existing clients are cancelling upcoming trips because they\u2019re worried they won\u2019t be let back into the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey see a lot of unlawful things going on in the city,\u201d he said. \u201cThey look at something bad, and then they think some bad things may happen to them.\u201d The majority of his clients are East African, and nearly all are U.S. citizens. They still hesitate to travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is not doing the right thing,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a criminal, there\u2019s a criminal. Regardless, there are ways to find the criminal, but to marginalize the community\u2019s name, and a whole people, that is unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ibrahim Dahiye, who sells electronics, said winter always used to be slow, \u201cbut now it\u2019s totally different. No one comes here. All the stores are closed, few are open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the crackdown began, Dahiye said his business is down $20,000 monthly, and he\u2019s now pooling funds to make rent.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s lost most of his customers. His employees are too scared to come to work. He tapped his jacket pocket, saying he keeps his passport on him at all times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what we can do,\u201d Dahiye said. \u201cWe believe in Allah, but we can\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Allah #Somali #shops #reel #Minneapolis #ICE #bad #business<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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