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On a recent Friday evening, over a dozen young immigrant players from Ethiopia, Mexico and Somalia showed up in various European soccer jerseys at the East Phillips Park in Minneapolis. All of them wanted to play, but the soccer field could only hold 12 people at once. So they divided themselves into three teams — with two groups playing against each other, and the third one waiting outside to replace whichever team lost first. They had no coach to supervise them and no referee to enforce the rules of the game. Instead, the players assigned their own positions and called their own fouls. The system seemed to work well until a goalie, who asked to play forward, was left with two options: leave the field or remain a goalkeeper. (He chose the latter.) Though each player wore a random jersey, which made it difficult to differentiate between the teams, it was easy to spot Yimer Woldeyes, an Ethiopian-born teenager who dominated the midfield with his speed, near-perfect ball control and masterful passes. Even with such skills, though, Woldeyes — like many of his immigrant and refugee friends — has never really imagined playing in professional leagues in Minnesota. That isn’t…

MAAH-MAAHYO WAXA LA YIRI SOOMAALIDU BEEN WEY SHEEGTAA LAAKIIN BEEN MA MAAHMAAHDO: HALKAN HOOSE KA AGKHRISO  QAAR KA MID AH MAAHMAAHYADA SOOMAALIDA: Ummad aan dhigaal laahayni, waa dhaayo aan arag lahayn Haddii deg-degsiimo door la bido, kaadsiimana kiish lacag ah ayeey dhashaa Nin weligaaba ma gaadhid. Waa ninka kaa naaag fiican. Hadal waa mergi oo kale Tol waa tolane Rag calooshii la ciyaar iyo cill kama kore ayaw u daran, dumarna cirkeed bogato iyo casar seexato ayaw daran Male rag waa mudacyo afkood Nin yar inta uu geed ka boodo ayuu talona ka boodaa Gaalka dil, gartiisana sii Waano dhalan baa ka adag Barasho horteed ha i nicin Oodo dhacameed siday u kala sareeyaan baa loo kala guraa Rag waxa u liita ma toshe, ma tashade iyo ma tashiishe Xaqqu feeraha ayuu ka dilaacaa Gafuur cawo ninkiisa ayuu dhibaa War la qabaa xiiso male Geel rag iyo rabbi baa dhaqa Nin qoyani biyo iskama dhawro Ragow barasho, geeloow rarasho Af jooga looma adeego

News headlines these days are filled with dark stories about immigration: children separated from their migrant parents, refugees barred from entering the U.S. and undocumented residents returned to countries they barely know. But on the tennis court of Matthews Park in Minneapolis, there’s a different kind of story unfolding: half a dozen immigrants from Bosnia, India, Russia and Somalia are catching up on a missed-out childhood experience: riding a bike. Even in their 30s, 40s and 50s, the student cyclists participate in a month-long program, Learn to Ride, which teaches adults how to bike. It’s a popular program of the Twin Cities-based nonprofit Cycles for Change, which is aimed at increasing diversity among bicyclists in the Twin Cities. On a recent late morning, Nima Abdirahman, a Somali-born participating in the Learn to Ride program, walked into the training field with a helmet, adjusted the seat of a waiting bike and hopped on it as she examined how students around her biked. It was the last day of the class, but Abdirahman and some of the student cyclists weren’t exactly where they needed to be to continue biking on their own after completing the program — at least during the first 15 minutes of the…

Many of President Donald Trump’s moves since taking office could be characterized by upheaval and unpredictability, but at least one set of policies has resulted in an entirely unsurprising outcome: Members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation who represent the Twin Cities area have seen a substantial increase in the stream of constituents seeking help with immigration cases. “We have experienced a noticeable increase in … more complex cases involving prolonged detention, deportations of long-term U.S. residents with U.S. citizen families [and] delayed applications,” Jamie Long, Rep. Keith Ellison’s deputy chief of staff, said in an email. During the first three months of 2016, for instance, Ellison’s Minneapolis office received 24 immigration-related requests from constituents. Over the same period this year, the number grew to 60. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith likewise have seen an increase in the number of immigrants and refugees searching for answers regarding many of the policies implemented by the Trump administration, though both offices were unable to provide specific numbers. For constituents with questions or concerns about immigration cases, congressional offices offer a range of services, include expediting pending applications and securing appointments with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS), the federal agency that handles immigration-related…

In 1998, when John Keller joined the St. Paul-based Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota(ILCM) as an immigration attorney, he would often drive to Worthington, where hundreds of low-income immigrants and refugees depended on the organization’s free legal services. “We would do workshops, answer a bunch of questions, do in-takes and represent whoever we could help,” said Keller. Then one day in 2006, a year after he was named ILMC’s executive director, federal immigration agents raided a meatpacking plant in the southern Minnesota city, picking up more than 200 workers — an incident that frightened foreign-born residents in the area. To effectively respond to the raids, Keller needed to hire a full-time attorney, increase staff presence in the city and take on more legal cases to help detainees and their families. But doing so without a physical location in the city proved difficult for Keller and his team. So in 2009, the organization opened its first satellite office in Worthington, a city that has rapidly diversified over the last two decades, largely because of immigrant population growth. Six years later, ILCM opened an office in Moorhead and then, in 2016, a third one in Austin — cities that have also seen an influx of…

1. MINNESOTA ZOO LAUNCHES NEW SENSORY-FRIENDLY MOBILE APP FOR GUESTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM This Addition is Part of the Zoo’s Suite of Access Programs Apple Valley, MINN – April 27, 2018 – The Minnesota Zoo is excited to launch a new free sensory-friendly mobile app called MNZoo4All, to support the Zoo experience for guests on the autism spectrum. This new app features social guides, a sensory-friendly zoo map, communication tools, a zoo-themed memory game and more. This app can be downloaded for free from App Store for iOS Devices and Google Play for Android Devices. The Minnesota Zoo is committed to providing guests from all backgrounds and with all abilities an amazing experience before, during and after their visit. “The Minnesota Zoo is always working to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to connect with the natural world,” says John Frawley, Minnesota Zoo Director and President. “It’s important for us to provide amazing and impactful experiences for all of our guests and meet them where they are.” The Minnesota Zoo partnered with Infiniteach to create this dynamic app for guests to enjoy.  “Infiniteach is passionate about developing apps that make experiences, such as going to the Minnesota Zoo, accessible…

Soomaali-dii hore waxay ragga u bixin jirtey naaneys ay ula jeedaan hadba ninkaasi Sida uu u egyahay ama wakhtiga uu dhashay. Tusaale: 1. BAYAX U DHALAY: Waa nin nasiib badan. Waa nin u nasiibku siiyey xoolo badan, waa nin u nasiib badan lacag, waa nin u nasiib badan wax kasta oo iIlaahay dadka uu ku maneystey. Waa nin xoolihiisa xattaa haddii ay lumaan dhakhso loo helo oo weliba bahal ma cuno. Waa nin u nasiib badan in uu helo marwo qurux badan, marwo dulqaad leh, marwo gaariya (nadaaf badan). Waa nin u nassb badan caruur badan oo taaba qaada(weynata oo wax qabsada). Waa nin ay bulshadu jeceshahay in ay gurigiisa markasta ku soo shirto. Waa nin deeqsi ah oo gacantiisu furan tahay. Waa nin dadka oo dhan ay ka mahad ka sheegtaan. 2. NAAS MADOOBE: Waa nin hal adag (hdal adag). Waa nin geesi ah. Waa nin jecel halka uu qabsado in loo gooyo. Waa nin dadka intooda badan aysan is fahmin. Waa nin arin isaga ku saabsan aan laga hadli Karin ilaa uu yimaado. Waa nin jecel in tiisa loo raaco oo aan hadal badan lagu soo celin. Waa nin dadka kale aan waxba is-kaga tirin. Waa nin han…

Micaela Schuneman and Ben Walen both lead refugee resettlement efforts at separate nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities. And both have recently noticed a similar trend in their line of work: a substantial decline in the number of Somali refugee admissions. “Last year, for my office, we had resettled 99 Somali refugees during [the first half of] our fiscal year, which started on October 1st,” said Schuneman, who’s director of refugee services at the International Institute of Minnesota. “This year, we’ve resettled 13.” Walen, the director of refugee services at the Minnesota Council of Churches, has seen a similar pattern. In the last several years, Somalis accounted for 40 to 50 percent of the organization’s overall refugee resettlement caseload. This year, however, “we’re down to below 20 percent,” he said.   That’s a big shift from the number of Somali refugees the state has resettled in previous years. From 2014-2017 nearly 4,000 refugees from Somalia were resettled in Minnesota, which represented the single largest group of new arrivals brought here each year.  That’s not a big surprise. The administration of President Donald Trump has reduced overall refugee arrivals since it came into office in 2017. Yet the primary cause is the administration’s increased scrutiny of…

David Gaither might be the only prominent Republican leader in Minnesota who’s advocating for legal immigration and helping new immigrants and refugees find their feet. For a decade now, the former state senator and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s chief of staff has been leading the Minneapolis-based International Education Center (IEC), which provides adult newcomers in the Twin Cities with language classes and skills necessary for the workforce. Representing more than 70 countries, the students learn English as well as how to read the bus schedule, apply for jobs and help their children become successful in school. They’re classes, as Gaither notes, tailored to help participants become “independent and productive members” of society. As some of his Republican counterparts propose cutting the number of legal immigrants, banning refugees from certain countries and increasing border security efforts, Gaither spends most of his days trying to secure funding or expanding opportunities for the nearly 1,000 immigrant students IEC serves each year. “Regardless of the political affiliations,” he said, “Minnesotans have two basic challenges with immigration: They don’t want to press 1 for English and they don’t want to have people on government assistance programs. My school and the organization I work with address both issues strongly.” …

When Minneapolis’ Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center opened for business last March, Mohamed Ali wasn’t totally sure how many jobseekers would come to the site for employment services, at least at first.   “Our goal for the first year was to have 150 people find jobs,” said Ali, a program director at the center. “But we exceeded that number. We had a really successful year.” The Opportunity Center is a product of a public-private partnership that seeks to increase employment participation for residents of Cedar Riverside neighborhood, which has long boasted one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. The partners include the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, EMERGE Community Development and Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC). Representatives from these partners are on-site each day to provide wrap-around services for unemployed and underemployed residents, connecting them to job opportunities and career training programs. During its first 10 months of service, the center managed to assist nearly 500 people to find jobs, according to data the agency provided to MinnPost. Of those, about 300 people landed low-skill jobs that pay $9.50-11:50 per hour; the rest were placed into jobs that pay $12 or higher. The employers that have the most consistent presence at the Opportunity…