Poll: Plurality of Minnesota Voters Say State Has ‘Too Many Refugees’

A new Suffolk University/St. Cloud Times poll released on Thursday shows that a plurality of Minnesota voters say the state has “too many refugees.”

Forty-four percent of likely Minnesota voters say the state has “too many refugees,” while 38 percent say the number of refugees in the state is “just right.”

A mere ten percent say they want more refugees.

Refugee resettlement is one of the key issues in the state that now has the largest Somali community in the country in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Most Somalis arrived in the state through the federal refugee resettlement program, or are children and grand-children of those who were resettled through that program.

GOP gubernatorial nominee Jeff Johnson has made ending the state’s participation in the federal refugee resettlement program a key element of his campaign.

That issue appears to be resonating with voters.

More