Mogadishu Refugee Abdi Iftin Explains How Somali Clans Became Prolific American Fraudsters

Abdi Nor Iftin was born in Mogadishu amid Somalia’s multi-polar civil war. As a child he learned English from forbidden Hollywood movies featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, earning the nickname “Abdi American.” He survived warlords, famine, and Al-Shabaab death threats while working as a translator for Western journalists and speaking out on international radio. In 2014 he won the U.S. visa lottery and resettled in Maine. Today he is the author of the acclaimed memoirs Call Me American and the children’s version Falcons Over Mogadishu. An ardent proponent of integration and Americanism, Iftin has sharply critiqued leaders within Maine and Minnesota’s Somali diasporas for failing to assimilate into American life.Subscribe to get episodes and investigative reports delivered to your inbox… Get full access to The Robinson Report at robinsonreport.substack.com/subscribe