When Imprimis editor Doug Jeffrey invited me to write “Learning From Minnesota’s Somali Fraud Scandal” for the January issue, I knew it offered a new experience. Imprimis is the monthly publication of Hillsdale College. It goes out to 7,000,000 free subscribers and is posted online as well.
Since it was published in mid-January, I have heard from state and federal government officials wanting to follow up on the essay. I have heard from readers who cared enough to track me down via Power Line and write our gmail account. Most of the messages expressed appreciation of the essay along with a related question or proposal. Several wrote to observe that the essay should have been titled “Learing From….” Two readers tracked me down by telephone and left me disagreeable voicemail messages. Two months after the essay was published, I’m still hearing from readers.
A few readers wrote to take issue with what I wrote. Here is one example:
Dear Mr. Johnson,
I have read your article in the Jan, 2026 of Imprimis. I would like to comment on your statement….
“The seeds of this community were planted in the early 1990s, when the State Department directed thousands of refugees from Somalia’s civil war to Minnesota”In the early ’90s I was a supervisor for American Airlines in Brussels. I witnessed the arrival of these war torn, starving refugees who arrived on Sabena (SN) from Mogadishu. They were transferred to AA#89 to ORD and from there to Minneapolis. As most of them were ill and illiterate, we AA employees, to the best of our abilities, filled out their immigration documents. Part of the documentation was listing the sponsoring US person or organization.
Mr. Johnson, I can personally assure you that they were all sponsored by Lutheran congregations in the Twin Cities area. Yes, good Christian folk doing their best to help people suffering from war and famine. They were not thrust upon Minneapolis by the Federal Government, they were aided and abetted by Lutherans who take their faith truly and deeply and acted accordingly.
This is not accurate. So-called voluntary agencies (VOLAGS) including Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis contracted with the State Department and got paid for their services. The State Department was the principal actor in the scenario, not local churches. The VOLAGS helped their Somali clients navigate Minnesota’s voluminous social welfare programs and sign them up. See, for example, the 2011 CBS Minnesota story “Good Question: Why Did Somalis Locate Here?”.
This one made me laugh. It started off on a high note and descended rapidly:
Scott,
I thought your article was better than any I have read on this topic.
Your very last paragraph reads: “Public program fraud on the scale we see today in MN-and to a lesser degree in other states- indicates a leadership class that he either forgotten or no longer takes seriously the idea that public office is a public trust.”
Sorry, you don’t appear to have the slightest clue as to what is going on in MN, or Maine, or Ohio. These politicians are Communists. They hate the USA & its citizens. The Somali’s kick back substantial amounts of their theft to the politicians to use in their campaigns & to line their pockets.
Why did Communist China send delegates to Tim Waltz’s inauguration? Why did Tim make so many trips to China? He is a Communist!
You need to research how corrupt these politicians are & where the stolen money went!
Most conservatives now understand what is going on.
Not sure how I missed that.
