Emmer Tells Immigrants Who Don’t Assimilate To “Go Back”

(KNSI) – Minnesota U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer, whose district includes St. Cloud, is facing widespread criticism after telling a conservative audience that immigrants who do not assimilate should go home.

Emmer, a Republican and the third-ranking member of U.S. House leadership as Majority Whip, made the remarks last Thursday at a Faith and Freedom Coalition town hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Addressing the crowd, Emmer turned to the subject of immigration and assimilation. “We celebrate everyone’s culture. We’re happy with that, as long as you are an American. Celebrate your culture, I don’t care, Italian, Polish, you know, Somali, okay, but they don’t assimilate, and if they don’t assimilate, then they should go the hell back to where they came from,” Emmer said.

Emmer cast his bluntness as deliberate. “Minnesotans are so afraid that you’re gonna call us ‘a racist,’ you’re gonna call us ‘an Islamophobe,’ you’re going to call us some name, that we just don’t want to get into that fight,” he said. “You know what? I would argue that I never did care, but I’m done being careful, even the least bit careful.”

Emmer has represented the Sixth Congressional District, which includes St. Cloud and its sizable Somali population, since he was first elected in 2014. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the United States, with recent U.S. Census figures putting the statewide population at roughly 107,000, including about 84,000 in the Twin Cities metro area.

The remarks drew swift condemnation from members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who was born in Somalia and is one of the first Somali Americans elected to Congress, fired back on the social media platform X.”I assimilated all the way to Congress and this idiot still tells me to go back where I came from,” Omar wrote, urging supporters to back Emmer’s Democratic opponent.

Rep. Angie Craig, also a Democrat, called the comments racist. Gov. Tim Walz condemned the remarks online as well. Doug Chapin, the Democrat challenging Emmer in this year’s election, released a statement criticizing the congressman.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Congress to formally rebuke Emmer. Executive Director Jaylani Hussein did not hold back in the organization’s statement. “Telling Somali Americans to ‘go back where they came from’ is a classic racist attack that has been directed at generations of immigrants and communities of color,” Hussein said. “Members of Congress should reject this hateful rhetoric and make clear that Somali Americans are valued members of our state and our nation.”

A spokesperson for Emmer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Emmer has previously linked recent public assistance fraud cases in Minnesota, including the Feeding Our Future scheme, to members of the Somali community, drawing criticism from opponents who say his comments unfairly characterize the broader population.

In June of 2015, during a public hearing at the former Ace Bar and Grill on St. Cloud’s east side, he described Somalis as among the fastest-assimilating populations in the state and defended the right of legal residents to settle in Minnesota communities. He also helped found the Congressional Somalia Caucus alongside then Representative Keith Ellison, now Minnesota’s attorney general.

Emmer is seeking reelection this year.

___