Day: November 26, 2014

Eden Prairie, MN losing Somali population due to lack of low-income housing?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This very lengthy story at USA Today is an important read to learn about the battle that occurred there in recent years over the diversity-created achievement gap in the schools when large numbers of Somali refugees arrived. It is well-worth reading so that your community might be prepared for the day when your Muslim population gets above 3% in your city or county.

A Minnesota classroom. Photo: http://www.minnpost.com/learning-curve/2013/10/innovative-program-minneapolis-helps-somali-children-ease-transition-school

I’ve been studying some of the percentages of Muslim populations in certain countries and cities and my guess is that about 3% is the point where demands begin to be made.

According to this article (Diversity in the Classroom) at USA Today, if Eden Prairie does have 4,500 Somalis in a population of 81,000 then they are already in the 5% range:

About 1,800 Eden Prairie residents claimed Somali ancestry on the latest U.S. Census survey, but city officials peg the number closer to 4,500 in a city of about 81,000, making them the city’s largest group of non-European descent….

Statewide, there are at least 32,000 Somalis as Minnesota, like many other states, adjusts to a second wave of immigration that is transforming the nation and our education system.

There is a fantastic “school diversity index” for every state in the nation that is definitely worth seeing.  (Maryland is near the top of the scale with a white school-age population of only 42% compared to Vermont and Maine both with 92% white kids in schools).

I recommend that you read the whole article, but here at the end was a bit that interested me.

Not enough affordable housing means they will move on?

But even with the success of the boundary change, Jama (Ahmed Jama) says he’s seeing something perhaps more troubling: Affordable housing in Eden Prairie is drying up, threatening to reverse the gains in diversity.

Analysts say the city needs more than 1,800 units of affordable housing to keep pace with its population growth. The Metropolitan Council, a local government entity that studies housing, transportation and other civic issues, estimated recently that Eden Prairie needs 1,844 new affordable units by 2020 for local residents working in service industries and other lower-wage jobs. But landlords in Minnesota have the discretion to reject subsidized housing vouchers, says the council’s Libby Starling. “When vacancy rates are falling, landlords can be pickier about who they accept as tenants,” she says.

The result, Jama and others have said, is a steep drop in the Somali population of Eden Prairie — 40% by one estimate, though Starling says she hadn’t seen a drop in the latest Census figures. “If there is a trend of Somalis leaving, it’s probably new enough so that none of our data sources would be able to capture it.”

Jama says the change has actually occurred since 2010, but it’s unmistakable.

We have written on several previous occasions about Eden Prairie, here are those posts.

Two Minneapolis men charged in attempt to join ISIS Jihadists

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Isn’t it funny (not!) that the headline everywhere on this story calls them “Minneapolis men.”  There is surely not one headline with the words ‘Somalis we raised with our tax dollars give us the finger, join Jihad!’ 

Actually, when you read the story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune you can see that one of the two actually succeeded in getting out of the US and is charged in absentia.

Abdi Nur got away and is believed to be in Syria. Taxpayer-funded eye glasses? http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/27478751/2-minnesota-men-arrested-on-isis-related-terror-charges

For me, it is really simple, let them go and then rescind their passports so they cannot return to America—ever!  That would really send a message!

What are we going to do with this guy—Abdullahi Yusuf—give him a slap on the wrist, put him in jail (at great expense) for a few years and have this angry wannabe jihadist hanging around Minneapolis?

We have followed this same story for years—they are always “disaffected” youths whether they joined Al-shabaab earlier or ISIS now.  And, the trouble will all go away, we are told, when they have more stuff, like youth activities and jobs.  There is virtually no mention that it might not even take a “big fish” recruiter but their desire to go help build the Islamic State might be coming directly from their weekly mosque lessons.

I was alerted to the story by seeing Omar Jamal’s face on Fox News earlier this morning.  Longtime readers know our Somali ‘Jesse Jackson’ well.  See our lengthy archive on news hound Jamal by clicking here.  Jamal was at one point convicted of entering the US illegally but nothing ever happened to him.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Two Twin Cities men accused of trying to join a terrorist organization in Syria were charged with conspiracy Tuesday by federal prosecutors, part of a continuing investigation into a pipeline used to recruit Somali-Americans to fight overseas.

Abdi Nur, 20, of Minneapolis, and Abdullahi Yusuf, 18, of Inver Grove Heights, are charged with conspiring to provide support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Yusuf, who was stopped by FBI agents last May while trying to board a flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, appeared before a U.S. magistrate in Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon and was ordered held in custody pending a detention-bail hearing on Wednesday. Nur, who was able to board a flight bound for Turkey last spring, is believed to be in Syria.

“These two young men conspired to travel to the Middle East to engage in a campaign of terror in support of a violent ideology,” said Andy Luger, U.S. attorney in Minnesota.

“Since … 2007, our region has lost dozens of disaffected young people to terrorist organizations that would sooner see Somali-Minnesotans die on foreign battlefields than prosper in peace and security in the United States.”

A federal grand jury convened last spring is investigating the ISIL recruitment pipeline. Federal authorities believe about a dozen Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities, including two women, have managed to fly to the Middle East after being provided assurances of safe passage by ISIL contacts.

“This is a global crisis and we will continue our efforts to prevent Americans from joining the fight,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said Tuesday in Washington.

With Tuesday’s charges, he said, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged more than 15 individuals with offenses “related to the foreign fighter threat in Syria.”

The Obama Justice Department is going to roll out the youth outreach program soon and that will end this foolishness!

For community leader Abdirizak Bihi, the indictments create a sense of urgency as the Justice Department rolls out its youth outreach program.

Bihi said he believes that, in addition to online recruitment videos and social media, there must be recruiters working on the ground in the United States. “There must be somebody here to plant the seeds,” he said.

“The whole community is interested to know who is behind this, who the masterminds are.”

Maybe there is no mastermind, maybe it’s pretty simple—Mohammad told them to do it.

Why are there so many Somalis in Minneapolis?  See our 2011 post here, one of our all time top posts.  Thank the US State Department and its contractors—Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities, and World Relief Minnesota!