“Minnesota Was Promised to the Somalis”: The meme satirizing anti-immigrant rhetoric

A meme proclaiming that Minnesota was promised to the Somalis 3000 years ago has been making the rounds on social media in recent days, but what exactly does it mean?

Somalis in Minnesota

First, some background information: Somali refugees have been settling in Minnesota since the 1990s, ultimately leading to the state having the largest population of Somalis in the U.S.—around 80,000. The anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. has increasingly contributed to vitriol against them, including from President Donald Trump himself.

Trump recently told reporters that Somali immigrants "contribute nothing," that they are "garbage," that their country "stinks," and that he doesn't want them in the U.S. He has also used his platform on Truth Social to claim that he is going to do away with the Temporary Protected Status, despite reports saying it would only impact around 700 people nationwide.

What is the Minnesota Was Promised to the Somalis meme?

In light of the aggressive anti-Somali stance put forth by Trump and other anti-immigrant rightwingers, a meme has popped up revolving around the idea that Minnesota is the land that was promised to the Somalis thousands of years ago.

To be clear, even though many Americans hold the belief that immigrants—especially those with legal status—should feel welcomed and safe in Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole, there's no actual basis to what the meme claims. Rather, it's a riff on justifications used by those who believe God promised Israel to the Jews.

The idea behind it all seems to be to simultaneously show support for Somalis who live in Minnesota and are being targeted by the Trump administration and to casually highlight the absurdity of using an old religious text to decide who should have the right to land.

Examples of the meme

Jokes about Minnesota being the Biblically-promised land of the Somalis (many of whom are Muslim) have spread across social media in recent days, including "two state solution" and "Minnesota birthright" japes.

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