Minnesotans begged House Majority Whip Tom Emmer more than a decade ago to halt the flood of Somali refugees to the area, but the lawmaker scolded them for their concerns.

Minnesota’s Somali population is back in the spotlight after YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video canvassing multiple Somali-run childcare centers accused of fraud. However, A resurfaced audio clip from “This American Life” shows that voters were concerned about mass Somali migration long before the recent controversy.

In an episode that aired in October 2016, journalist Zoe Chace narrated portions of the story, including a reflection on a July 2015 town hall event at Aces Bar in downtown St. Cloud. Describing the room as packed, Chace said one constituent told Emmer that he believed most people in the bar “are here to find out how you feel about assimilation of immigrants,” before playing a clip from the event.

“We did not ask for those Somalis. Nobody asked us if we, in St. Cloud, want those Somalis. And we understand that social groups, like the Lutheran social service and the Catholic charities, they’re dumping them in areas like St. Cloud,” the man could be heard stating.

“OK, and so the question is, how many more are coming? We didn’t ask for these people. Everybody that you read about is talking about this. So that is a main issue in this city,” the man added. “There is no control. The people have no control over any immigration. The mayor doesn’t. I don’t know.”

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In the recorded town hall, Emmer pushes back on the man, with Chace describing the lawmaker as firing “a warning shot at the implicit racism” directed at Somalis. As Emmer argues that Somalis are one of “the fastest-assimilating populations,” prompting audible groans of disapproval.

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The audience continued pressing Emmer to demand a vote on the refugees. One constituent, identified as Sue, pushed back as Emmer repeatedly asked what she wanted him to do, telling the lawmaker there had been a “huge economic burden placed” on them at the time because of the influx.

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Going back and forth, Emmer asks Sue point blank if she’s suggesting that “no more immigrants should be allowed to come to St. Cloud,” to which states it would be a “moratorium for a short time.” Additional people in the background could be heard shouting that the pause should be for the “whole United States,” before Emmer jumped in to state the request was simply not possible.

“All right, here’s the thing. All I can do is respond as open and honest as I can, Sue. That’s not something that I can do. That’s not something that our constitution says that we do with people who are — ” Emmer could be heard telling her before Chace cuts to an audio clip of him directly talking to her.

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