He was an Uber driver within the US. Now he is petrified of jihadists in Somalia

[ad_1] Bushra Mohamed BBC World Service

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5e46/live/8e1f6db0-d201-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Mahad Mohamud A head and shoulders image of Mahad Mohamud, He is wearing a sandy brown shirt and a similar coloured curtain can be seen behind him." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Mahad Mohamud Mahad Mohamud was deported from the US 5 weeks in the past

Mahad Mohamud is slowly readjusting to the warmth, chaos and stress of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after being deported from the US metropolis of Minneapolis final month simply as winter was closing in there.

Somalis know the 36-year-old as Garyaqaan - a phrase that may be translated as "choose".

That is the title he makes use of on TikTok, the place he attracted nearly half 1,000,000 followers whereas he was overseas. Followers praised Mahad for his defence of his clan's pursuits - a part of Somalia's profitable TikTok roasting sub-culture.

However to these operating the White Home-linked "Fast Response 47" X account, Mahad was a "prison unlawful scumbag". In an October publish it accused him of being "concerned within the kidnapping of French officers" from a resort within the Somali capital.

Mahad has denied the allegation, saying that he was not in Mogadishu on the time. He was by no means convicted and the case was dropped.

He says his detention by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) company was triggered after a rival TikToker leaked his tackle.

"ICE advised me that they had two instances in opposition to me - one was getting into the nation illegally and the kidnapping of a French official."

Mahad stated the kidnapping case was dealt with by the FBI and after questioning, they cleared him.

However that did not save him from being deported.

His journey from Somalia to the US began greater than a decade in the past and first took him to South Africa, the place he lived till 2021. However he says he was assaulted by armed males in a xenophobic assault.

He then went to Brazil and made his method north, ultimately crossing into the US, with out documentation, by the Mexican border.

"Once I jumped the fence from Mexico, I used to be arrested and detained for a month," Mahad says.

"I used to be later launched with a piece allow as a result of my asylum case was lively."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6736/live/6d12fd20-d74d-11f0-8a07-c3f29e3145bc.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Andaou via Getty Images An ICE agent in a black balaclava and ICE stab vest is standing amid the snow. Out of focus, behind the agent, a woman in a pink hat and keffiyeh, holding a take-away coffee cup, can be seen." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Andaou through Getty Pictures ICE brokers, challenged by protesters, have been seen on the streets of Minneapolis, which has a big Somali neighborhood

He then made his solution to Minneapolis. "I used to work as an Uber driver. I used to be comfortable to lastly be within the land of desires. I hoped they might settle for me."

His TikTok profession additionally took off which gave him a gradual revenue as followers despatched him presents as they watched his reside streams. It additionally led to a menace on his life from the Somalia-based Islamist militant group al-Shabab due to his defence of the federal government.

A part of his asylum case within the US was primarily based on that menace.

Mahad describes in vivid element the early Could morning when immigration brokers arrested him this yr.

Shortly after he had eaten breakfast, he went to his automobile pondering he was about to start one other day of Uber driving.

"Growth, they got here for me," he says.

In line with Mahad, he was taken on a 30-minute drive to the ICE headquarters serving Minneapolis and its twin metropolis of St Paul, earlier than being transferred on a six-hour journey to Kandiyohi County Jail Jail in Willmar, Minnesota, the place he says he spent six months in detention.

He tells the BBC that three of these months had been spent ready for a choice on his asylum case, and the remaining three awaiting deportation. The authorities denied his asylum declare as they rejected the concept that he can be in peril in Somalia.

Mahad says there have been transient intervals when he was transferred to Arizona, from the place deportation fights go away, however he was advised on every event that logistical preparations weren't prepared.

On one in every of these journeys, he was a part of a bunch of 39 detainees, together with nationals of Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea, in a holding space for individuals ready to board deportation flights.

Lastly, when it got here to his personal departure, Mahad says he was put in a good restraining jacket and travelled on a small aircraft with seven different deportees and a few guards.

The journey first took them to Costa Rica, in Central America, then to Senegal in West Africa, earlier than flying to Kenya's capital, Nairobi. There Mahad says the restraining jacket was eliminated and he was handcuffed and placed on one other aircraft to Mogadishu.

Having spent three months ready to be deported, Mahad had already resigned himself to his destiny and was not significantly emotional on his return.

After a decade aside, he has lastly been reunited along with his three kids. "I would not commerce this second for something now... I have never seen them for 10 years," Mahad says.

However he would nonetheless favor to be within the US as a result of he fears for his life after receiving textual content messages from al-Shabab, containing loss of life threats.

He takes further safety precautions when he is out and lives in a nicely protected dwelling however didn't wish to go into additional particulars, or share the contents of the threats, for security causes.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/62b0/live/43f583b0-d1d8-11f0-9267-ab26a8fe8cc2.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Warmly dressed demonstrators rally outside a shop. They are holding signs in praise of migration including "Immigrants make Minnesota great"." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Pictures Some Minneapolis residents have been protesting in opposition to deportations

On his return, Mahad was welcomed by many individuals from his clan, together with native politicians, due to his TikTok profile. He understands that due to his social media presence he might get alternatives not accessible to different Somalis deported - or threatened with deportation - from the US.

Final month, President Donald Trump stated he would finish the non permanent safety standing that's supposed to stop individuals from being deported whereas their dwelling nation is unsafe.

Earlier this month, he upped the ante, saying that he doesn't need Somali immigrants within the US, telling reporters they need to "return to the place they got here from" and "their nation isn't any good for a motive".

Somalia has not had a central authorities in charge of the entire nation for the reason that toppling of President Siad Barre in 1991. Folks have needed to endure years of close to anarchy and insecurity - and even now, regardless of a authorities being in place in Mogadishu, Islamist militants nonetheless dominate a lot of the nation and infrequently stage assaults within the capital.

Watch: Trump says he 'does not need' Somali migrants in US

Trump's feedback got here after he was questioned about large-scale fraud within the state of Minnesota's social help programme.

Dozens of individuals have been charged over a scheme that federal prosecutors say concerned a charity fraudulently billing the state's authorities for meals for kids in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A lot of Somali immigrants had been implicated in that alleged scheme.

Within the wake of the president's remarks about Somalis, movies have circulated on social media showing to indicate immigration brokers knocking on doorways throughout Minneapolis, which incorporates an space referred to as Little Mogadishu, and St Paul.

For a lot of within the metropolis's Somali neighborhood, the most important within the US and numbering round 80,000, the posts have triggered alarm.

The BBC additionally spoke to 5 younger Somali males who now spend their days confined to a pal's small home, shifting rigorously by rooms that aren't their very own. They left their rented residence abruptly final week not as a result of they needed to, however as a result of the lease was underneath their names.

As individuals who had been given non permanent protected standing, they feared it was solely a matter of time earlier than ICE traced the tackle and got here for them. They grabbed what they may carry and slipped away within the night time, hoping the change of location would provide some safety.

Now, their lives are suspended. Work shifts are missed. Meals are skipped or stretched. One of many males described how shortly every part has collapsed: "We're operating out of meals. We've not reported to work for the previous 5 days as a result of we're scared that ICE may be ready for us. I do not know what is going to occur to us."

Mahad is way from being alone in being deported to Somalia in latest months, though there are not any official figures.

The BBC additionally spoke to a different younger Somali man, who requested to stay nameless. He stated he was struggling to rebuild his life again in Mogadishu.

From rural Somalia, he was determined to go away as a protracted drought had destroyed his livelihood. He illegally crossed into the US by the Mexican border after travelling north from Brazil however was detained shortly after. He spent 18 months in custody earlier than being returned to Somalia.

Talking on the cellphone, he describes feeling unsure about his future.

"They despatched me again to begin from zero," he says. "Every part I labored for simply disappeared."

He says he spent round $20,000 (£15,000) to achieve the US, together with cash he had borrowed from family and friends.

Since returning dwelling, he has had no cash and says there are not any alternatives in Somalia.

"I do not see a future right here," he says. "There may be nothing happening… no employment."

He's now contemplating migrating as soon as extra.

"I do not wish to begin life once more. I simply wish to migrate to any nation now."

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