Boston, Massachusetts, Mayor Michelle Wu (D) claimed that Somali immigrants living in the Greater Boston area are, in part, responsible for the city’s achievements.
During a press conference this week, Wu said the roughly 8,000 Somali immigrants who live in the Greater Boston area “are our neighbors, doctors and nurses, teachers, first responders, Boston police officers,” and said their contributions are what has made Boston a successful city.
“You cannot talk about any achievement that the city of Boston has had in safety, jobs and economic development, in education, without talking about the Somali community that has lifted our city up,” Wu said. “We are proud and we are grateful for our Somali community and our Somali American neighbors.”
Wu made the claim even as Somali immigrants make up just 0.16 percent of the Greater Boston area and just about 1.2 percent of the city of Boston’s population.
As Breitbart News previously reported, Somali immigration to the United States has been plagued with fraud and abuse.
In fact, fraud was so prevalent among Somali immigrants in the early 2000s that the State Department halted a visa program that had brought tens of thousands to the U.S. from the African country through fraudulent means.
Recent analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies found that in Minnesota, where the nation’s Somali population has ballooned, 81 percent of households headed by Somali immigrants are on one or more forms of welfare, including 27 percent who are on cash welfare, 54 percent who are on food stamps, and 73 percent who are on Medicaid.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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