Somali family reunites in Minneapolis as Trump strands refugees across the world

Fardowsa Abdi Aden rushed past the automatic doors at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and wrapped her sister Amina Aden in a hug.

The joyous family reunion caused a minor traffic jam near the international arrival doors. Some passersby walked around the large group while others stopped to watch.

Fardowsa Abdi Aden, 35, and Amina Aden, 37, grew up together in an Ethiopian refugee camp, but had been apart for more than a decade, living on different continents separated by an ocean.

“I am so happy that I almost feel like crying,” Abdi Aden said through an interpreter.

She arrived at the airport recently with her husband and their eight children, just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The family, refugees of the Somali civil war, traveled for four days so they could resettle in Minnesota. The reunion was a culmination of their immigration journey, a years-long effort that was derailed years ago under Trump’s first presidency, and that they feared would stall again when he was re-elected in November.

“This happened to me last time in 2016, but thank God this isn’t happening to us again,” said Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, Fardowsa’s husband.

About 20 people from the International Institute of Minnesota also welcomed the family at the airport. The nonprofit serves refugees and immigrants and helped resettle the family.

Michelle Eberhard, the institute’s director of refugee services, called on volunteers and staff to show up to make the reunion special since the family were some of the last refugees to resettle in Minnesota before Trump was sworn into office.

“I just thought it would be really special to really welcome the family and help them know we’re really happy they’re here in Minnesota,” Eberhard said at the airport.

Just days later, Trump signed several executive orders making sweeping changes to immigration policies. He also temporarily suspended the nation’s refugee resettlement program earlier this week, stranding thousands of refugees across the world who fled war and prosecution, and who were already approved for resettlement in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

“I’m very happy that I was able to make it before the closure happened,” Hassan said. “I’m praying that the president will have mercy on people being trapped right now.”

Fardowsa Abdi Aden and Amina Aden were born in Somalia. Their family fled during the civil war after the government collapsed in 1991. As children, the sisters moved to the Kebribeyah refugee camp in Ethiopia with their mother, Fadumo Isse, 57. Their father died in 1991.

More than 16,000 refugees live at the refugee camp; the majority have been there for almost 30 years, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. It’s the longest operating refugee camp in Ethiopia, and has poor access to water, health care and shelter.

Abdi Aden’s children, ranging in age from 3 to 18, were born in the camp.

When Amina Aden lost her eyesight as a child due to an illness, her sister became her caretaker in the refugee camp. The sisters and their mother began the refugee resettlement process in 2010, but only Amina Aden and Isse were approved for refugee status because Isse was married and started a family. They resettled in New York in 2011, living there for about three months before moving to Minnesota.

Waiting for her application to be approved, Fardowsa Abdi Aden said, was “very difficult, very long.” Her application to immigrate came close to being approved in 2016, she said, but then stalled because Trump ordered a ban on immigration and travel from several Muslim-majority countries during his first presidency.

The ban ended when Joe Biden took office in 2021 and signed an executive order reversing some of Trump’s policies, allowing her application to move forward. When Trump was re-elected, she said she was worried Trump would reinstate the ban and again stop her from reuniting with her family.

But in January, Abdi Aden arrived in Minnesota with all of her family’s belongings packed into eight suitcases. The family arrived at Isse and Amina Aden’s small apartment in south Minneapolis, where the children ran around, playing with toys on the floor.

“I feel like I am dreaming,” Isse said through a translator about seeing her children and grandchildren together in one place. “I feel like I’m flying in the air with happiness.”

Abdi Aden and her family eventually moved into their own apartment with help from the International Institute, which found them housing and furnished the unit. Volunteers also set up the apartment with groceries and toys. She said she’s looking forward to getting a job and seeing her children receive a better education.

“I cannot put into words the happiness that I feel,” she said.

Atra Mohamed translated interviews for this article.

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This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.