Poll: Somalis plunge to the bottom of America’s favorability rankings

Minnesota’s Somali community has been under scrutiny over the fraud scandal that has enveloped state leaders. The outcry had already prompted Minnesota’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz to drop his reelection bid, which he did last week, before an ICE officer shot an unarmed woman, further propelling Minnesota into the news. Daily Mail polling conducted January 5 and 6 – also before the fatal ICE shooting – found that the Minnesota fraud scandal was taking a toll on how American voters viewed Somali immigrants. Somalians were viewed least favorably compared to other immigrant groups in the J.L. Partners poll.

In fact, they were the only group that polled in negative territory. Thirty percent of registered voters said Somali immigrants made a bad impact on the United States. That’s higher than the 24 percent who said they made a good impact and the 29 percent who viewed the community neutrally. For years, President Donald Trump has slammed Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, the highest-profile member of the community, mocking her at a rally-like event in Pennsylvania in December for wearing a ‘little turban.’

This week, Vice President JD Vance noted ‘America has a bit of a Somali problem’ when talking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters about the Minnesota scandal. Democrats, on the other hand, have charged that the fraud scandal is a way to further demonize a vulnerable group. When broken down by party, 46 percent of Republicans viewed Somali immigrants negatively, versus 32 percent of independents and just 15 percent of Democrats. When the question was flipped, 30 percent of Democrats said Somali immigrants made a positive impact on the United States, with more – 35 percent – saying they were neutral.

Twenty-two percent of independents said that Somalians made a positive impact, with 31 percent saying they were neutral. And among Republicans, 19 percent said the Somali community made a positive impact, with 20 percent of GOP voters staying neutral. Other groups that had single-digit ratings included Colombians, with a net rating of positive two, and Venezuelans and Haitians, who each received a positive-six. Chinese immigrants were given a plus-13 net rating.

African and Mexican immigrants had a plus-23 rating, Indian immigrants had a positive 29, and Filipinos had a positive 33. The groups that got the best ratings from American voters were the British and the Europeans, with immigrants from the United Kingdom receiving a plus-44 rating and immigrants from the European Union receiving a plus-43 rating. Broken down, both the British and the Europeans got 51 percent of voters to say that they made a good impact on the United States.

The United Kingdom got its slight edge over Europe because 7 percent of U.S. voters said the British made a bad impact on the United States, while 8 percent said that of those coming from EU countries. The survey was conducted using 999 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.