Trump lashes out at ‘garbage’ Somali immigrants and vows new crackdown

Donald Trump has called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said they should be sent back home as the administration announced it was indefinitely pausing immigration applications from 19 countries subjected to a travel ban earlier this year.

- Rachel Leingang Richard Luscombe

Taking aim at Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative from Minnesota who was born in Somalia and is a US citizen, Trump said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday night that Somalia “stinks” and was “no good for a reason”, adding: “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I'll be honest with you.”

Trump called Omar “garbage” and said: “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.

“These are people who do nothing but complain ... When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the Minneapolis-St Paul area, where many Somalis reside, would see stepped-up deportation efforts focusing primarily on Somalis who have final removal orders.