Somalis

I don't object to making group immigration decisions on the basis of the best group information we have available of who will be most likely to adapt to American ideals.  These are people we don't know all that well, even after vetting, and we are asking current citizens - often our poorest citizens - to absorb the risks while the wealthy are separated from the problem.

But once you are here you are judged as an individual, and Trump is simply wrong to judge the group. 

The opposite argument, that "most Somalis are not criminals" is a mild version of the identity politics that conservatives and libertarians are supposed to reject. That is true.  90% of everyone is not criminals, and on the front side we are allowed to differentiate between 90 and 99% Not Criminals. But once they are here that goes out the door.  We don't accept that they should have more lenient rules because they are marginalised people; we should not accept that they have stricter rules because their countrymen have done poorly. Whether there should be heightened scrutiny is a bit different, and I think those things can be hard to separate, but we should strive to. 

The Sudanese came to America in two waves.  I know something about this personally.  The second wave was South Sudanese and did not have high criminality.  Many have had trouble academically, but that's another subject. The first wave of (North) Sudanese had a great deal of trouble adapting to cultural norms, especially as regards women. It is fine with me that discerning who was who in this informs our future decisions on which Sudanese are admitted. 

But once they are here, they are here and stand or fall on their own. We can't have this both ways.