History & Timeline
Why Minnesota? The historical record is clear: jobs came first. Word of steady work in a Marshall turkey plant spread through the diaspora in 1992, resettlement agencies with decades of experience did the rest, and a community put down roots.
Civil war begins
Somalia's government collapses and the country falls into civil war. The UN reports more than one million Somalis flee as refugees and 1.5 million are displaced within Somalia.
First arrivals — for jobs
The U.S. begins issuing refugee visas to Somalis and the first refugees arrive in Minnesota. That summer, a group of Somali men travels from Sioux Falls and San Diego to Marshall, Minnesota, for jobs at turkey-processing plants. Word of steady work spreads through the diaspora.
Community institutions form
The Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota is founded in Minneapolis's Cedar-Riverside neighborhood — the state's oldest Somali organization.
Direct resettlement begins
Refugees begin arriving directly from camps in East Africa, resettled by Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities, and other agencies whose experience with Southeast Asian refugees in the 1970s–80s made Minnesota ready. By the late '90s, Minneapolis holds the largest Somali concentration outside Africa.
An entrepreneurial decade
Hundreds of Somali entrepreneurs open businesses across the Twin Cities. Karmel Mall becomes a landmark, south Minneapolis corridors are revitalized, and the African Development Center begins providing interest-free financing for entrepreneurs and homebuyers.
First elected offices
Hussein Samatar is elected to the Minneapolis School Board — among the first Somali Americans elected to public office in the U.S. In 2013, Abdi Warsame is elected to the Minneapolis City Council.
A national first
Ilhan Omar becomes the first Somali American elected to any state legislature in the United States, representing a Minneapolis district in the Minnesota House.
A generation takes root
Omar is elected to Congress — the first Somali American U.S. Representative. Today Somali Minnesotans serve in the Legislature, on city councils, and on school boards statewide. A majority of the community is now U.S.-born, and 91% are citizens.