STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK. What do Somali Americans think of all this? We begin in St. Cloud, Minnesota, with Minnesota Public Radio's Kirsti Marohn.
KIRSTI MAROHN, BYLINE: About 100 people crammed into a meeting room at the St. Cloud Public Library. A sign on the podium read, an attack on one is an attack on all. Twenty-seven-year-old Faisa Omar (ph) opened the event with a song.
FAISA OMAR: (Singing) America, America, God shed his grace on thee.
MAROHN: Most of the Somalis in this area are U.S. citizens, either born here or naturalized, or are legal permanent residents. Many in the room said when they heard President Trump say that Somalis are garbage and contribute nothing, they felt the need to fight back. Abdikadir Bashir is executive director of the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization.
ABDIKADIR BASHIR: We're not here tonight because we are afraid. We're here because we refuse to be silent.
MAROHN: Bashir said Trump's words don't define the Somali people.
BASHIR: Here is our message to your hate, Mr. President. You cannot defeat people who have already survived wars. We will outlast your trash talk.
MAROHN: Some said the national scrutiny and talk of a possible immigration crackdown in Minnesota are creating fear and anxiety. Farhiya Iman, a behavioral health professional, says it's important for people to know there's more to the Somali community than the negative news stories.
FARHIYA IMAN: We're just as American as anybody else. We're trying to raise children. We want them to be productive members of society. We want to be successful. There's a lot that goes into being Somali than just what the headline says.
MAROHN: Mohamoud Mohamed was one of the first Somalis to come to St. Cloud in 1999 after fleeing that country's civil war.
MOHAMOUD MOHAMED: We came from a destroyed country by war. It's not a choice. It's not a choice. It's necessity.
MAROHN: Mohamed voted for Trump twice but says he now regrets it. He says the president is unfairly blaming Somalis when the vast majority are hardworking and law-abiding.
For NPR News, I'm Kirsti Marohn in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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