GOP Rep. Tom Emmer Calls for Somali Deportations – in 2015, He Dismissed His Voters’ Concerns About Them

There is a particular kind of cowardice in politics that only reveals itself after the damage is done.

It’s the sort of brand where leaders spend years smiling for the cameras, funding the programs, cutting the ribbons, and reassuring polite society that everything is fine — right up until the fraud explodes, the money disappears, and the voters start demanding answers.

Then, suddenly, the tough talk arrives. Loud. Furious.

And far too late.

Minnesota GOP Rep. Tom Emmer’s recent outburst over Minnesota’s sprawling fraud scandal is a textbook example of this political chicanery.

His scorched-earth rhetoric about deportation, denaturalization, and cultural assimilation in recent days may sound satisfying to a base that’s fed up with systemic abuse, but it rings hollow coming from a political class that helped create the very conditions it now pretends to oppose.

When accountability only shows up after headlines force your hand, there’s a term for that: damage control.

BREAKING: I’m calling for the denaturalization and deportation of every Somali engaged in fraud in Minnesota. Read my full statement below:

“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home. If they’re here illegally,…

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) December 30, 2025

“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home,” Emmer posted to X on Tuesday. “If they’re here illegally, deport them immediately; if they’re naturalized citizens, revoke their citizenship and deport them quickly thereafter.

“If we need to change the law to do that, I will. Our nation will not tolerate those who take advantage of our charity and refuse to assimilate into our culture. Additionally, if any naturalized Somalis had undisclosed ties to terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab, I want to see their citizenship revoked and their asses sent back immediately.

“Same goes for anyone who is found to have committed marriage fraud during the immigration process.”

The natural question that flows from this diatribe is a simple one: Where was this Tom Emmer 10 years ago?

As the Daily Caller pointed out just hours before Emmer’s post, “Minnesotans begged House Majority Whip Tom Emmer more than a decade ago to halt the flood of Somali refugees to the area, but the lawmaker scolded them for their concerns.”

“We did not ask for those Somalis. Nobody asked us if we, in St. Cloud, want those Somalis. And we understand that social groups, like the Lutheran social service and the Catholic charities, they’re dumping them in areas like St. Cloud,” a concerned constituent told Emmer during a 2015 town hall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The constituent continued, “How many more are coming? We didn’t ask for these people. Everybody that you read about is talking about this. So that is a main issue in this city.

“There is no control. The people have no control over any immigration. The mayor doesn’t. I don’t know.”

Emmer’s response? He pushed back on this notion, seemingly suggesting that these concerns were simply rooted in implicit racism. He further — laughably — claimed that Somalis are one of “the fastest-assimilating populations.”

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” one respondent was overheard saying. Sadly, Emmer was not kidding.

And that’s emblematic of the deeper rot afflicting the modern GOP.

For years, Republicans have been terrified of upsetting liberal media, activist bureaucracies, and progressive orthodoxy. They cave early, compromise often, and insist that prudence requires silence.

Then, once the consequences become impossible to ignore, they posture as hardliners and hope voters forget who enabled the mess in the first place.

Emmer’s newfound fury isn’t bold — it’s representative of a party that keeps choosing comfort over confrontation until the bill comes due.

And that should be called out loudly.

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