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What does Atra Mohamed, a writer for the Minnesota Reformer, have to say about the Trump Administration making it increasingly difficult for the Somali diaspora in St. Cloud and through Minnesota to send remittances back to their native land? Well, he’s none too happy. [Feds make it hard for Somali immigrants in MN to send money to family, St. Cloud Times, March 13, 2026]:
Since the start of Operation Metro Surge in December, the Trump administration has waged an economic battle on the Somali community, using the threat of detention — including of legal residents, citizens, as well as refugees who had their temporary protected status revoked — to scare away commerce in once-bustling places like Karmel Mall.
Now, the administration is extending the siege all the way to Africa, putting up new taxes and regulations on the transfer of money from Americans to Somalia.
Hamdi Issek, a nurse at a home care facility and a shop owner at Karmel Mall, said the effort to curb the practice of sending money to Somalia will have far-reaching effects. The money she sends to family in Somalia each month covers essentials such as food, rent, clothing and education for her family there, Issek said.
More than half the population of Somalia lives in poverty, defined as just over $2 per day.
The diaspora sent $1.73 billion in remittances to their families and friends in Somalia in 2023, significantly surpassing all humanitarian aid and development assistance, according to The Interpreter.
These remittances — typically small individual monthly contributions — account for approximately 16.5% of Somalia’s gross domestic product.
hat means the Trump administration’s new obstacles to remittances could have the unintended effect of further destabilizing East Africa, which could in turn fuel still more migration.
The Department of the Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.
Bessent’s rules
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in January an investigation of Somali money transfer businesses after an unsubstantiated article in a right-wing journal alleged ill-gotten gains were intentionally being funneled to al-Shabaab, a Somali militant group designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government.
The allegation linking Somali Americans to terrorist organizations is false and damaging the community’s reputation, Issek said.
“We are hardworking people, and most of us worked for what we have,†she said.
On Jan. 9, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, issued a Geographic Targeting Order, or GTO, requiring money transfer companies and banks in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties to report to FinCEN anyone who transfers $3,000 or more to Somalia and other countries. This measure took effect on Feb. 12 and will end on Aug. 10, though it may be extended at the Treasury’s secretary’s discretion.
Ostensibly, FinCEN is investigating whether the money sent overseas came from a federal, state or local safety net program to investigate fraud. Bessent has said in a statement, “We have traced where the money went and are examining it.†He did not specify where or how his department would do so.
President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, introduced a 1% tax on money sent from the U.S. to foreign countries, which amounts to $10 per $1,000 sent.
The OBBBA’s new section 4475 went into effect on Jan. 1. The new 1% tax is in addition to the $5 transfer fee typically charged by the transfer company.
These companies are required to collect this 1% tax and pay it to the IRS quarterly or risk taxman trouble.
Paul Vaaler, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, said this is a double standard directed at certain immigrants. Many already face obstacles that prevent them from opening bank accounts, leaving them with one option, which is using transfer money companies to send money to their relatives in their home country.
“We know this law is discriminatory because it does not apply to all international transfers equally,†said Vaaler, who specializes in international business and law.
The administration is also mulling a measure that could push some immigrants out of the banking system. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, the Trump administration is considering new banking requirements to verify customers’ citizenship status, which would discourage some immigrants from using banks and force them into alternative — and often problematic — financial arrangements like payday lenders, check cashing storefronts, cryptocurrency, or simply hiding cash in a shoebox.
‘Critical lifeline to the people in Somalia’
Abdulaziz Sugule, the chairman of the Somali American Money Service Association, said Bessent’s remarks show a lack of understanding of the role that Somali money transfer companies play.
“Money transfer companies service everywhere in Somalia, including small towns and rural areas where traditional banks don’t reach; that’s why they are a critical lifeline to the people in Somalia,†he said.
And, as with any other financial services firm, they must abide by Treasury regulations, he said.
He said most people send only $450 to $500 per month, which is less than the $3,000 that triggers the new regulations, though they will be subject to the 1% tax. Although most people won’t be affected by the new rules, Sugule said, Bessent’s comments, with their ethnic and geographic targeting, could create panic in the community about sending money.
Mexico and India both receive billions in remittances from their respective diasporas within the USA each year, all untaxed. The Somalis send back the equivalent of nearly the entire Somali GDP each year, which nowhere near the amount Mexico and India receive, is still shockingly sizable. White people in America can no longer be neutral or racially insouciant to the fleecing of our economy by the massive foreign diasporas within our nation, their homelands reliant on this untaxed cash infusion to fuel growth and stability there that, were Indians, Mexicans and Somalians left to create wealth on their own labor (without the aid of lowering wages in America across verticals) in India, Mexico and Somalia, opportunity costs for maintaining this insane arrangement become clear for the citizens of the USA.
Never forget, prior to 1993, there were zero Somalis in Minnesota. The 1990 US Census shows the population was 94% White. There were no Somali communities within the state to wire back money to artificially prop up the Somalian economy, with the vocations they saturated with cheap labor filled by primarily White Americans.
Remigration and Denaturalization (RaD) of all Somalis in America is the ultimate goal; until then, moving to tax remittances back to Somalia are near 100% makes self-deportation a far quicker action.
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