Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is separated from the downtown core by a warren of freeway overpasses, and it’s proving to be the perfect place for Somali immigrants in Minnesota to create an enclave that’s much more Somali than American.
On the main road you’ll see the skeletal remains of closed non-Somali businesses, such as the aptly named Western World, an outerwear supplier that had been at the site since 1970. Every newly opened business is Somali.
Block by block, under the steady gaze of the brutalist 1970s Riverside towers, now populated mainly by Somalis, the neighborhood is losing its old identity and transforming into something that looks more like Africa than Minnesota, except for the snow, of course.
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This is not new in America. Immigrant groups have long come to our country, choosing to live in isolation with their own customs. The difference here is that Minnesota’s Somali community is also seeking and gaining political power – not just in their neighborhoods, but across the state and even in the federal government.
In the wake of a massive fraud scandal in which perhaps as much as a billion dollars intended to feed hungry children was allegedly stolen by organizations with very close ties to the Somali community, local residents are beginning to feel growing frustration.
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The fact that a large majority of those involved in this public money scandal are Somali speaks to the level of political power the community has amassed at every level, while barely assimilating into the broader culture.
A woman I spoke to named Jane, who is in her late 30s and very sympathetic to immigrants, admitted, “They have their own thing.”
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Recently, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, Abdullah Hammoud, got in trouble for suggesting that America should not be a melting pot, but rather a salad — basically that each individual immigrant group should maintain its cultural norms.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud condemned the “hate” at the protests, saying they did not reflect the city’s values, in comments during the Nov. 18, 2025, city council meeting. (Dearborn City Council Meeting via YouTube)
In fact, in America it has always been possible for groups to live separately from the rest of society and obey their own rules, but these groups, such as the Amish and Hasidic Jews, do not seek state and federal political power.
Assimilation has long been the prerequisite for political power for the very reason that our elected officials in politics must serve the interests of everyone, not just their own isolated communities.
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Even when Somali voters in the November elections in Minneapolis cast their ballots for a candidate like Mayor Jacob Frey — who is not one of them — they were still the electorate Frey had to pander to the most.
This largely explains why this alleged theft of so much money by Somali organizations went unnoticed and uninvestigated for so long. Not only did the Somali political machine view such an investigation as inherently racist, but it also had the political power to make Democrats like Governor Tim Walz look the other way.
The point here is not that there are people in the world who are unable to integrate into American society; the point is that they have to want it.
You almost have to admire the efforts the Somali community makes to remain isolated. Many stores display a green sign reading “Ramadpay,” a Minneapolis-based money transfer service that sends cash to several Muslim countries.
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So even by sending money home, the Somali community has managed to bypass the US banking systems and keep all costs within the community.
The Somali community and its leaders, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have a choice to make: Either they can assimilate as so many other groups have done before them — and take their place in state and federal politics — or they can remain isolated.
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What cannot be allowed is for this community to exert political pressure on the rest of the country while at the same time claiming that any monitoring of that influence is intolerable. That game must be over for good.
In Cedar-Riverside, Western World is not just a clothing store that is no longer in business, it is a symbol of the growing tension between Minnesota Nice and Somali-based violence. As more and more corruption emerges, this tension will only continue to increase.
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