Quick Take: Columbus' Somali Population

Columbus has the country's second largest Somali population behind Minneapolis, many of them having fled serious persecution back home. Under Attorney General Ashcroft, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) routinely deported to Somalia despite the absence of a formal government able to accept them or any travel documents. In fact, Mr. Ashcroft expedited these deportations since the Bush administration considered Somalia a terror threat. This cruel practice of literally dropping deportees from planes flew in the face of international norms and previous domestic standards.

In recent years, after the United States Supreme Court took up the issue, DHS has abandoned this practice. But Somalis who arrive in Columbus and this part of the country still face great challenges within our immigration court. As Paul Sonnerberg, a local immigration attorney put it, "our legal system does not provide immigrants a free pass--refugees from Somalis and other conflicted parts of the world have suffered great hardship and are not guaranteed asylum when they apply for it, facing grave harm and death if deported. The success rate in the U.S. is only 33%."

-MB