Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas (Somali community)

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,745 Somali people in the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area and 6,436 in Texas (US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter; Texas). Many are Somali Bantu families resettled in Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas from the mid-2000s (Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, July 2013).

How many Somalis live in Dallas–Fort Worth?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 3,745 people in the metro area who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another (ACS 2020–2024, B02025). By ancestry it counted 2,380, and 1,656 people were born in Somalia (ACS 2020–2024, B04006; B05006).

More live on the Fort Worth side than in Dallas. By race, Tarrant County counted 2,041 and Dallas County 1,419 (ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Tarrant County; Dallas County). Tarrant County also had 1,115 people born in Somalia (ACS 2020–2024, B05006, Tarrant County).

Among cities, the survey counted 1,213 in Arlington, 531 in Fort Worth, 382 in Dallas and 323 in Irving (ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Arlington; Fort Worth; Dallas; Irving). These small counts carry margins of error close to their size (Census Reporter).

Texas as a whole ranks fifth among US states by the race count (ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state).

How did Somalis come to Dallas–Fort Worth?

Fort Worth became a large resettlement area for Muslim refugees with the Bosnian arrivals from 1995 (Fort Worth Weekly, June 2013). About a decade later, the war in Somalia brought another group (Fort Worth Weekly). From 1983 to 2004, about a third of the 34,000 refugees who came to Fort Worth were Muslims, by federal figures (Fort Worth Weekly).

Somali Bantu families. About 13,000 Somali Bantu refugees were resettled in several states from 2004 to 2008, Texas among them (Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013). In Fort Worth, about 70 families lived in or near one apartment complex in the southeast of the city by 2013 (Star-Telegram). Communities also formed in Arlington and Dallas, and a group in Amarillo kept ties with Fort Worth (Star-Telegram).

World Relief, Refugee Services of Texas and Catholic Charities resettled and assisted many of these families (Star-Telegram).

Arrivals continue at a small scale. In the 2025 fiscal year, 74 refugees from Somalia were placed in Texas (Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state).

Work and business

In 2013, most Somali Bantu men in Fort Worth worked at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013). They drove buses, cleaned aircraft or worked as custodians (Star-Telegram). Refugee agencies in Fort Worth help new arrivals with jobs, housing and English classes (Fort Worth Weekly, 2013).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure (Minnesota Reformer, March 2026). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad (Minnesota Reformer).

Who speaks for the community?

The Tarrant County Somali Bantu Association of Texas spoke for Fort Worth's Somali Bantu families in 2013 (Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013). Catholic Charities Fort Worth and local churches have supported the families (Star-Telegram).

Fort Worth's Muslim Community Center runs the Al-Shifa free clinic, open to refugees of all origins (Fort Worth Weekly, 2013). No Somali American has yet been found among elected officials in North Texas.

What does the community face now?

Safety and belonging. In 2013, Somali Bantu families in Fort Worth reported girls targeted for wearing hijabs and stones thrown at their apartments (Star-Telegram via WardheerNews, 2013). Many elders were wary of calling police, a fear learned in Somalia (Star-Telegram).

A proposed pause on Somali immigration. In February 2026, US Representative Brandon Gill, who represents Texas's 26th District, said he would introduce a bill pausing Somali immigration for 25 years (Dallas Express via Yahoo News, February 2026). He said it would not affect Somalis already in the US with legal status (Dallas Express via Yahoo News).

The end of Temporary Protected Status. Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 (USCIS). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed (MPR News, August 2026).

How is Dallas–Fort Worth tied to home?

Somali refugee arrivals nationwide fell from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018, then rose to 4,790 in 2024 (DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14). Those numbers decide how quickly families in camps can join relatives in Texas. For the national picture, see United States (Somali diaspora).

What else has been reported?

• Fort Worth, 2013: a five-year-old boy from a Somali Bantu refugee family was beaten to death in Fort Worth, and a 13-year-old boy from the neighbourhood was arrested on a capital murder warrant (WardheerNews; CBS News). About 70 Somali Bantu families lived in or near the same apartment complex, and the president of the Tarrant County Somali Bantu association told WardheerNews "we understand that here is not safe". The juvenile case outcome is not public.

Related pages

• United States (Somali diaspora)
• Other US Somali communities
• Phoenix
• Atlanta and Clarkston
• Why and how Somalis left
• Refugee camps
• Somali refugees by the numbers

Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Dallas–Fort Worth metro, Tarrant and Dallas counties, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Texas and states. Via Census Reporter API. censusreporter.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Diane Smith, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via WardheerNews). "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary." 7 July 2013. wardheernews.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Annabelle Massey Malloy, Fort Worth Weekly. "Touching lives." 26 June 2013. fwweekly.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." rpc.state.gov. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. minnesotareformer.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Logan Washburn, The Dallas Express (via Yahoo News). "U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill says Islamic migration is 'transforming' DFW." 4 February 2026. yahoo.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." uscis.gov. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. mprnews.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. ohss.dhs.gov. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. WardheerNews. "Bantu refugees in Fort Worth still searching for sanctuary". 2013. https://wardheernews.com/bantu-refugees-in-fort-worth-still-searching-for-sanctuary. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. CBS News. "Texas boy, 13, arrested in fatal beating of 5-year-old". 2013. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-boy-13-arrested-in-fatal-beating-of-5-year-old. Checked 2026-11-12.