San Diego: We Are Not “Garbage,” We Are Community

I’m Mikaiil Hussein, president of the United Taxi Workers of San Diego, and I’m writing this because something has shifted in our beloved city of San Diego. After President Donald Trump’s comments attacking Somalis, many Somali families across San Diego are living with a new kind of fear—fear that we’ll be singled out, questioned, or treated like we don’t belong here.​ I need San Diegans who believe in basic decency to hear this clearly: we are not “garbage.”​
We are your neighbors.​

Why I’m carrying my passport card​

I’m a U.S. citizen, and I first came to this country as a refugee from Somalia more than 30 years ago.​
And yet, right now, I carry my U.S. passport card wherever I go—because if ICE agents stop me, I want no confusion, no delay, no “mistake” that turns into something worse.​ It’s unfortunate to even have to say that, but this is where we are.​ I’m also telling other Somali Americans: carry your documents, and talk to your children about being vigilant, because the climate has changed—and pretending it hasn’t won’t protect us.​

City Heights is feeling it​

City Heights is one of the most diverse communities in San Diego, and it’s also home to one of the country’s largest Somali communities, with local leaders estimating around 15,000 people of Somali descent here.​ When rhetoric from the White House targets a whole people, it doesn’t stay “on TV”—it lands on our streets, in our schools, and inside our homes.​

Community leaders like Said Abiyow of the Somali Bantu Association of America have described fear and confusion rising fast, with the organization receiving 60 to 70 calls a day from people trying to understand what’s happening and what they should do.​ Even without reports of the same kind of enforcement actions in San Diego, uncertainty is enough to put families on edge.​

We work here. We pay taxes here. We belong.​

Let’s be honest about what Somali San Diegans actually look like: we’re working people.​
Somalis here work in government, health care, retail, child care, transportation, small business, and more—and yes, we pay taxes like everyone else.​ My own story is not unique in our community: I arrived with legal documents, worked hard, became a citizen, and later moved to San Diego where I started driving a taxi and eventually became a union leader representing hundreds of immigrant drivers.​ I was one of them, I know their pains and joys. But this is what building a life looks like—and it’s what thousands of Somali and East African migrant families have been doing in San Diego for decades.​

“Stand with us” means show up​

Days after the insults aimed at us, we gathered in front of the City Heights Library on Fairmount Avenue to show solidarity, with signs that said, “Stop the hate. Somalis are welcome in City Heights.”​
Damaris González from the City Heights Defense Committee said something every San Diegan should remember: “An attack on the Somali community is an attack on all of us,” because we share the same streets, schools, and future.​

At that rally, Said Abiyow (Somali Bantu Association) asked people to step up and stand with us, reminding everyone that Somali families are co-workers, San Diegans, and Americans—and the crowd responded, “You are not alone!”​
That’s the energy we need to grow, because public solidarity doesn’t just “feel good”—it makes it harder to isolate a community and easier for people to seek help without shame.​

What San Diegans can do today

• Speak up when you hear anti-immigrant hate or lazy stereotypes, whether it’s online, at work, or in your own family.​
• Show up in City Heights when community groups rally, organize, or ask for support, because visibility matters when people feel targeted.​
• Support the organizations doing real work on the ground—groups like the Somali Bantu Association of America, UTWSD, PANA, MidCity CAN and others that are already overwhelmed with calls from families who are scared and searching for answers.​
• Check on your immigrant neighbors, drivers, shop owners, and parents in your circles, because fear gets heavier when people carry it alone.​

One last thing, from me​

If you’ve never met a Somali family, this is the moment to learn who we are from the people living next door—not from someone using us as a political target.​ We are hardworking people, family-centered people, respectful people—and we deserve safety, dignity, and belonging in the city we help build every day. Come by our office on 7036 El Cajon Blvd, La Mesa, CA 92115. Our doors are open to you always!

Please feel free to donate to our cause of taxi advocacy and migrant rights awareness by clicking this link.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/78472742-de60-4ad1-99b8-34366e130d5d

Your help is highly appreciated!