I’ve been writing about immigration for Sahan Journal for more than three years now, but the stories I reported this last year were some of the most impactful I’ve ever written.
After years of trying to understand the complexities of the U.S. immigration system and how it impacts Minnesotans, I finally got the chance to really dig deeper into the cracks in the system and its effects on people.
In a major victory for immigration advocates this year, the Minnesota Legislature passed Driver’s Licenses For All, a bill that allows undocumented Minnesotans the chance to get a driver’s license. Covering that issue gave me the opportunity to look at how public safety and local law enforcement intersect with the immigration system—advocates often call this intersection “crimmigration.” Much of my year was spent reporting on U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement—better known as ICE—to understand how it operates locally.
But immigration issues are just one aspect of the story. I continued to write about the lives of immigrants in Minnesota and the ways communities come together— during times of both celebration and tragedy.
Here’s a breakdown of Sahan Journal’s top stories about immigration in Minnesota in the last year:
1. Senate passes Driver’s Licenses for All, sending bill to governor’s desk to be signed into law
The year for immigration policy in Minnesota started off strong in January when the Minnesota House passed Driver’s Licenses For All. The state Senate followed a few weeks later. On both days, the State Capitol was flooded with people—many of whom are undocumented themselves—celebrating victory in a decades-long fight.
Prior to the monumental votes, I spent an early morning with Lauro, an undocumented father of three American-born children, as he got his kids ready for school in the morning, drove to work and to the grocery store—without a driver’s license. He told me about the risks he faces every day when he gets behind the wheel. When the Legislature passed Driver’s Licenses For All, Lauro sent me voice notes expressing how relieved he felt.
When the law was implemented in October, many undocumented applicants found the written test a lot harder than they’d expected. Lauro passed the written test. We created a guide to help new applicants with the driver’s licenses process.
2. St. Cloud man sues U.S. government after failed six-year effort to sponsor family’s immigration from refugee camp
Rabi Mohamed, a 35-year-old Somali refugee, sued the U.S. government in April for putting his requests to sponsor his family’s immigration to Minnesota on hold. For more than seven years, Rabi has been away from his wife and three young children, who live in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. He has been able to visit only once and hasn’t even met his youngest son, who’s now 4. Rabi’s case had been stuck in a bureaucratic backlog caused by the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.
About a month after Rabi filed his lawsuit, I unexpectedly ran into his attorney at a conference in Washington, D.C. She let me know that federal immigration services had approved Rabi’s family reunification petition a few weeks after his story was published in Sahan Journal. Rabi’s attorney told me that she believes his case was approved because of all the attention brought on by the lawsuit—and our story.
3. Thousands attend funeral for five friends killed in Minneapolis crash
The five young women, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade, Salma Abdikadir, Sagal Hersi, and Siham Odhowa, had just finished getting henna applied on their hands for a friend’s wedding when their vehicle was struck by a speeding driver on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
A few days later, hundreds of people attended the funeral service for the girls at Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, praying in a field outside the mosque. After the service, thousands more gathered along the hills of the Garden of Eden cemetery in Burnsville to witness the burial.
Muslim community members described the girls as pillars of the community who were very involved at Dar Al Farooq. That community’s overwhelming support and grief became evident as I approached a hill covered with people. The crowd surrounded a clearing where the bodies of the five young women lay side by side, wrapped in white cloths. I had never seen anything like it.
4. Programming, services denied to Minnesota inmates who aren’t U.S. citizens
At the start of the year, I had set a goal for myself: I wanted to cover more issues around U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Most immigration reporters know that covering ICE can often be a slow, complicated endeavor. The stories, however, are worth it.
I had gotten in touch with Jorge Vargas Perez, a legal permanent resident currently in prison who cannot access the same opportunities as his fellow inmates who are U.S. citizens. When he was arrested, he was placed on ICE’s radar, immediately barring him from early release programs that help inmates integrate back into society as they approach the end of their sentence. I wrote about the complicated process he’s going through to obtain early release.
Unraveling ICE’s policies, communicating with a Minnesota prisoner, and understanding the whole story took a while—but a few weeks after the story was published, I received a handwritten thank-you note from Vargas Perez in an envelope with a beautiful drawing of a flower that he commissioned from a fellow inmate. I called an advocate he worked closely with and asked her to send my appreciation to Vargas Perez. That was when I found out that his request for early release had been granted. She said my story and the attention around his case had a hand in accelerating that process.
This was the first thank-you note I had ever received as a journalist, and while that is not why we do this work, the gesture reminded me of the humanity behind my work.
5. Citizenry on a stick: Minnesota State Fair holds first naturalization ceremony since 1996 for new Americans.
While stories about immigrants often involve trauma and hardship, I do get to write fun, heartfelt stories occasionally. One of the most fun stories I have gotten to report was about the first citizenship ceremony at the Minnesota State Fair since 1996. The 30 new citizens came from 18 countries
You wouldn’t think much was happening at the State Fair on a Monday morning, but about 100 people gathered in front of the stage at the fair’s International Bazaar, a collection of vendor stalls from around the world.
Many of them were friends and family members watching their loved ones become U.S. citizens. After the ceremony, I interviewed folks to learn more about how they felt about becoming a U.S. citizen—and what snacks they were headed to try next.
