Minnesota
Hmong, Somali communities in Minnesota raise concern over Trump’s new travel ban
The White House’s new travel ban takes effect on June 9. The 19 countries listed as a security concern by President Trump also include some of Minnesota’s largest immigrant communities.
“My parents were actually from the country of Laos. They can here after the fall of the Vietnam war,” said Hmong-American Mike Hang.
“The civil war is the reason why I’m here and made Minnesota my home,” said Somali-American Jaylani Hussein.
Two Americans with Hmong and Somali heritage. President Trump cited specific security concerns for each of these 19 countries with travel restrictions.
Two of those, Somalia and Laos, are responsible for some of the largest immigrant populations in Minnesota.
“Most folks who have been in the process of coming to the U.S. have been vetted, went through a process sometimes five, six, seven years. There is no other option,” said Hussein.
“It’s also very hard on the elders, too, right? Because they’re pretty old now and they do want to go see some family back there, it’s made it hard for them,” said Hang.
The President’s travel restriction proclamation listed specific security concerns with each country.
Somalia faces a full travel ban. The President cited a “persistent terrorist threat,” describing the country as a safe haven for terrorists and saying the country’s government is not vetting or screening travelers’ identities properly.
“It cuts deep for a community that’s seen little progress in Somalia,” said Hussein.
Travelers and immigrants from Laos are facing partial restrictions, with nearly 35% of people who come here on temporary basis overstay their visas, according to a Trump administration report.
The national security concerns and travel restrictions, leading to uncertainty for families in Minnesota.
“They’re very uncomfortable. We don’t know if someone’s gonna get banned,” Hang told WCCO.
BEMIDJI — The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development recently announced over $1.4 million in child care economic development grants, including a $200,000 award to the
Northwest Minnesota Foundation
in Bemidji.
Split between 11 programs and organizations around the state, more than 80% of the awarded funds support programs in Greater Minnesota, with the aim of creating more than 1,100 new child care slots.
“Affordable, reliable child care is essential for a thriving economy,” DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in a release. “These grants are supporting working families by ensuring Minnesota parents are able to work knowing their child is well cared for by some of the best caregivers in the nation. We’re also helping employers retain talent and working together to establish the foundation for long-term economic vitality.”
DEED’s Child Care Economic Development Grant program provides funding to organizations and communities to invest in new or expanding child care businesses, including facility improvements, worker training, attraction, retention and licensing, and other strategies to address the child care shortage.
Since the office’s inception in July 2023, DEED has awarded over $13 million in grants to 56 organizations to fund child care startups or business expansions, resulting in over 4,000 new child care slots.
A new state evaluation found Minnesota’s voter registration system mostly works as intended, but some counties did not update their records accurately.
On Wednesday, the Office of the Legislative Auditor published a summary of new voter registration applications submitted in the summer and fall of 2024. The findings stated counties processed 96% of new applications within the legal time frames, but struggled to process applications when recieved within 20 days of an election.
The report also said counties did not always update voter registration records as required by law when the Office of the Secretary of State flagged possible disqualifying conditions, such as incarceration. Counties sent required notices within 10 days to 84% of registered voters whose incarceration or guardianship challenges they removed.
The report goes on to say counties followed the identity verification process correctly for 99.9% of applicants and followed the residency verification process correctly for 99% of applicants. But among applicants counties manually reviewed for residency, counties either inaccurately assigned voter statuses or failed to document their rationale in more than one-third of the cases reviewed.
The Secretary of State maintains the Statewide Voter Registration System, while counties are responsible for creating and maintaining their own voter registration records. As of January of 2026, nearly 3.8 million people were registered to vote in Minnesota.
Top officials respond
Reaction to the report from Minnesota leaders has been mixed, with some top Republicans saying Secretary of State Steve Simon is to blame for inactive voters being left on voter rolls.
However, Simon’s takeaway from the evaluation was mostly positive, saying, “the report found our office has established the appropriate procedures for counties and that counties have performed their work with a nearly perfect record of accuracy.”
Cory Kampf, president of the Minnesota Association of County Officers, said counties generally agreed with the recommendations but asked for more context. He added voter residency was verified in 99% of applications, following the correct processes.
Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, full statement reads: “This voter registration audit exposes major loopholes in our system, including the thousands of votes that were allowed to register and cast a ballot on Election Day but couldn’t be verified as legal voters. It also showed that the Secretary of State does not follow the law for inactive voters, choosing to leave voters on the rolls years after they should have been deactivated. These are major problems that need to be addressed. Integrity in elections is paramount, and Minnesotans deserve certainty that only legal voters are deciding our elections.”
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