Somali Election Chaos And The US Travel Ban

Somalis celebrate and hold banners of newly elected Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Former prime minister Farmajo who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship was declared Somalia’s new president Wednesday, immediately taking the oath of office as the long-chaotic country moved toward its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century.
Somalis celebrate and hold banners of newly elected Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia. Former prime minister Farmajo who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship was declared Somalia's new president Wednesday, immediately taking the oath of office as the long-chaotic country moved toward its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century. Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP Photo
Somalis celebrate and hold banners of newly elected Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Former prime minister Farmajo who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship was declared Somalia’s new president Wednesday, immediately taking the oath of office as the long-chaotic country moved toward its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century.
Somalis celebrate and hold banners of newly elected Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia. Former prime minister Farmajo who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship was declared Somalia's new president Wednesday, immediately taking the oath of office as the long-chaotic country moved toward its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century. Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP Photo

Somali Election Chaos And The US Travel Ban

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When Somalia held presidential elections this week, it was a small group of legislators that did the voting, rather than the general public.

The election had been postponed several times because of security concerns and the potential risk of a terror attack. In the end, a group of lawmakers voted in a heavily guarded air force base in Mogadishu.  They selected a former prime minister who holds dual U.S.-Somali citizenship.

We talk about the recent election and the impact the travel ban has had on the Somali-American community with Ahmed Samatar,  a professor of international studies and founding dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College.