Rows of businesses stood shuttered inside a sprawling complex of Somali businesses in south Minneapolis on a recent afternoon, according to an Associated Press report published Jan. 18. At Karmel Mall, which contains more than a hundred small businesses in suites, the hallways were quiet even as some services continued and the sound of Quran recitation flowed from parts of the complex.
In interviews included in the report, business owners described widespread fear of federal immigration agents that kept both sellers and customers away. Several shopkeepers said they were waiting for customers who rarely came, with some choosing not to open because they did not expect anyone would enter.
Abdi Wahid, who works at his mother’s convenience store at the mall, said the conditions had persisted for about three weeks. “It’s been like this for three weeks now,” Wahid said, describing “Everywhere it’s all been closed up, all the stores.” He said the fear extended beyond people without U.S. citizenship, adding that even citizens were reluctant to enter shops.
Wahid said he believed that hesitance was tied to earlier incidents involving immigration enforcement and a recent killing in the city. He said what happened with Renee Good and the ICE raid at Roosevelt High School contributed to people staying away, saying they could be targeted “just because of their race.”
Wahid said his store’s customer traffic had fallen sharply. He said early afternoons once meant 15 to 20 customers, but that “These days, it’s tough to get one.” In the report, he was described as a citizen, but he said the pressure affected the neighborhood’s day-to-day interactions, not only noncitizens.
The report characterized Karmel Mall as an economic hub for the area’s Somali population, which is described as the largest in the U.S., and said the complex also includes housing, a mosque and Quran classes that function as a community center. It also described the economic fallout from the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” as extending beyond the Somali community, with many immigrants afraid to go to work or leave their homes amid the crackdown.
While owners described fear and reluctance among customers and workers, Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that arrests follow a legal standard set out in the Fourth Amendment. She said law enforcement uses “reasonable suspicion” to make arrests, and added: “A person’s immigration status makes them a target for enforcement, not their skin color, race or ethnicity.”
Upstairs in the mall, Bashir Garad, who runs Safari Travel & Accounting Services, said the crackdown had removed much of his customer base and that existing clients were canceling trips because they feared they would not be allowed back into the country. “They see a lot of unlawful things going on in the city,” Garad said, describing how clients then “think some bad things may happen to them.” The report said his clients are primarily East African and nearly all were U.S. citizens, but they still hesitated to travel.
Garad also said he believed the government’s actions were wrong. “The government is not doing the right thing,” he said, adding that “If there’s a criminal, there’s a criminal,” but that “to marginalize the community’s name, and a whole people, that is unlawful.”
Ibrahim Dahiye, who sells electronics, told the report that business was affected during winter as well. He said winter used to be slow, but that it was “totally different” now, describing: “No one comes here. All the stores are closed, few are open.” Dahiye said his business was down $20,000 monthly since the crackdown began and that he was pooling funds to make rent, and he said employees were too frightened to come to work.
Dahiye said he kept his passport with him at all times and said he did not know what to do. “I don’t know what we can do,” he said. “We believe in Allah, but we can’t do anything.”