What he called them · 2016 campaign · № 45
Linked Maine's Somali refugees to rising crime, a claim local police chiefs disputed
“So we've just seen many, many crimes getting worse all the time and as Maine knows, a major destination for Somali refugees, right? Am I right?”
- Said
- , Campaign rally, Portland, Maine
- Subject
- Somali refugees in Maine and Minnesota
- Target
- Immigrants
- Topic
- Immigration
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Lewiston's acting police chief said there was no correlation between Somali immigration and increased crime and that the city's crime rate had fallen since Somalis began arriving in the 1990s. Portland's police chief said crime was down in his city too. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said remarks disparaging legal immigrants were 'particularly unhelpful.' Trump returned to the theme in Green Bay (August 5). In Minneapolis on November 6, 2016, he spoke of 'large numbers of Somali refugees coming into your state without your knowledge,' some of whom he said had joined ISIS.