(This story contains language some readers may find offensive)

By Heather Schlitz

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Crowds usually press shoulder-to-shoulder at Karmel Mall, a sprawling Somali shopping center in Minneapolis, where people often greet each other by name, speak Somali more than English and gather to browse for new hijabs and shop from hundreds of vendors lining the narrow hallways.

On Wednesday night, however, only a handful of people milled around the mall after U.S. President Donald Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said that “they destroyed our country.” City officials say his remarks coincided with a surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis.

Minnesota’s Somali community has become an increasingly influential political constituenc

See Full Page