# Phoenix, Arizona (Somali community)

> Somalis in Phoenix, Arizona: Census counts, 7,000+ refugees resettled since 1992, Somali Bantu arrivals, shops, soccer, community groups and police trust.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/phoenix/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

The US Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey counted 3,056 Somali people in metro Phoenix and 3,582 in Arizona ([US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, B02025, via Census Reporter](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060); [Arizona](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=04000US04)). Arizona has received more than 7,000 Somali refugees since 1992, by state resettlement figures reported locally ([Cronkite News, November 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)).

## How many Somalis live in Phoenix?

The American Community Survey (ACS) for 2020–2024 counted 3,056 people in the Phoenix metro area who named Somali as a race group, alone or with another ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060)). By ancestry it counted 1,808, and 925 people were born in Somalia ([ACS 2020–2024, B04006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B04006&geo_ids=31000US38060); [B05006](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B05006&geo_ids=31000US38060)).

The city of Phoenix had 2,063 by race and Tempe 838, both with wide margins of error ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, Phoenix](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US0455000); [Tempe](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=16000US0473000)). Arizona ranks 11th among US states by the race count ([ACS 2020–2024, B02025, by state](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=040|01000US)).

Arrival totals are much higher than the survey count. Cronkite News reported 7,446 Somali refugees arriving in Arizona since 1992, the most from any African country ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). An Arizona State University project cited 7,097 from the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, April 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). The gap is explained in part by people moving to other states.

## How did Somalis come to Phoenix?

Most came through refugee resettlement after the war began in 1991 ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). The state has been a large resettlement site: Arizona took 3,600 refugees of all origins in 2013 alone, by state figures ([The State Press, June 2014](https://www.statepress.com/article/2014/06/arizona-offers-a-safe-haven-for-newly-displaced-refugees)).

**Somali Bantu arrivals.** One of the first Somali Bantu families resettled in the US reached Phoenix on 22 May 2003 ([Smithsonian, January 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)). The family had fled southern Somalia in 1991 and spent years in the Marafa and Kakuma camps in Kenya ([Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)). Lutheran Social Ministry of the Southwest handled their resettlement ([Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).

**Moving on.** Local advocates have said about half of Somali refugees resettled in Arizona later leave, often for Minnesota, after struggling to find work ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). A Phoenix shop owner told researchers that services for refugees were better in Minnesota ([ASU](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)).

**Still arriving.** In the 2025 fiscal year, 98 refugees from Somalia were placed in Arizona, the fifth-highest of any state ([Refugee Processing Center, FY2025 arrivals by state](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf)).

## Work and business

Somali refugees in Phoenix often start in low-wage work, and some open small businesses ([Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix, ASU, 2018](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). Isra Market, near 32nd Street and McDowell Road, sells halal meat, East African staples and women's clothing ([ASU](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market)). A cafe in a strip mall near 50th Street and McDowell Road serves as a community meeting point ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)).

The first Somali Bantu father in Phoenix described by Smithsonian worked first as a cleaner, then collecting luggage carts at the airport ([Smithsonian, 2004](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/)).

The Somali diaspora as a whole sent US$1.73 billion home in 2023, a World Bank-based figure ([Minnesota Reformer, March 2026](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)). Since 1 January 2026, a 1% US tax applies to cash-funded transfers abroad ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/)).

## Who speaks for the community?

The Somali American United Council of Arizona, in Phoenix, works with Somali families, including tutoring for school pupils ([Cronkite School Humphrey Fellows blog, October 2016](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education)). The Somali Association of Arizona has helped families with groceries and medical visits ([Phoenix New Times, 2017](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/many-somali-refugees-end-up-leaving-arizona-advocates-say-9237535/)).

Walalaha FC, a soccer team founded in 2008 by a Somali refugee, gives young African refugees a team and a community ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). Walalaha means "brothers" in Somali, and the team travels to play other refugee teams, including in Minnesota ([Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)).

A Somali community leader sat on the Phoenix Police Department's refugee advisory board until 2018 ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)). No Somali American has yet been found among Arizona's elected officials.

## What does the community face now?

**Schools and language.** A 2016 account described Somali pupils in Phoenix schools struggling under state limits on teaching in a pupil's first language ([Cronkite School Humphrey Fellows blog](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education)).

**Policing and trust.** In 2022, Phoenix police shot and killed a Somali former refugee who was throwing rocks at officers ([KJZZ, May 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful)). The county attorney filed no charges, and in November 2023 the city settled the family's federal lawsuit for $5.5 million ([KJZZ, November 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)). A community leader said the man had a mental health problem and needed help, and pressed for independent police oversight ([KJZZ](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)).

**The end of Temporary Protected Status.** Somalia's TPS designation, in place since 16 September 1991, ended on 14 August 2026 ([USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia)). About 700 people nationwide held it, and an appeal has been filed ([MPR News, August 2026](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia)).

## How is Phoenix tied to home?

Many young Somalis in Phoenix were born or raised in Kenyan camps, and many players on Walalaha FC have family still in Africa ([Cronkite News, 2019](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/)). Somali refugee arrivals nationwide fell from 9,030 in 2016 to 260 in 2018, which slowed family reunions ([DHS Yearbook 2024, Table 14](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14)). For the national picture, see [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/).

## What else has been reported?

- **Police shooting, 2022:** in September 2022 Phoenix police shot and killed a 34-year-old former Somali refugee who had been throwing rocks at officers near 19th and Glendale avenues; friends and family said he had mental health problems ([KJZZ, November 2023](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million)). The Maricopa County Attorney's Office did not file charges. In 2023 the city agreed to pay the family US$5.5 million, and the police chief later fired the officer, finding the shooting out of policy ([KJZZ](https://kjzz.org/content/1876725/phoenix-police-chief-fires-officer-who-shot-ali-osman)).
- **Somali Bantu, 2003:** Phoenix was scheduled to receive 660 Somali Bantu refugees in the first resettlement round ([Gospel Herald, June 2003](https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/3050/20030605/first-somali-bantu-refugee-families-arrive-in-u-s.htm)).
- **Tucson:** the Somali Bantu Association of Tucson says community surveys count about 1,500 Somali Bantu in the city ([Idealist, SBATA profile](https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/71ecc4bc9e7142b1a397e9953eda17ce-somali-bantu-association-of-tucson-arizona-sbata-tucson)); an older Arizona Daily Star report gave about 800 ([Arizona Daily Star](https://tucson.com/news/local/article_5449b3c7-2f3e-5d20-b787-e85bdaac645a.html)).

## Related pages

- [United States (Somali diaspora)](/en/diaspora/united-states/)
- [Other US Somali communities](/en/diaspora/us-other/)
- [San Diego](/en/diaspora/san-diego/)
- [Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/)
- [Why and how Somalis left](/en/diaspora/why-and-how-somalis-left/)
- [Refugee camps](/en/diaspora/refugee-camps/)
- [Somali refugees by the numbers](/en/diaspora/somali-refugees-by-the-numbers/)

## Sources

1. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Tables B02025, B04006 and B05006 (Somali), Phoenix metro, Phoenix, Tempe, Arizona and states. Via Census Reporter API. [censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B02025&geo_ids=31000US38060). Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Kyle Dowd, Cronkite News. Somali refugee soccer team Walalaha FC, Phoenix. 20 November 2019. [cronkitenews.azpbs.org](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/11/20/somalia-refugee-soccer-team/). Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Sanhareb Nano, Visualizing Immigrant Phoenix (Arizona State University). "From the Somali Highlands to Phoenix's New Frontier." April 2018. [visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com](https://visualizingimmigrantphoenix.com/individual-projects/sanhareb-nano/isra-market). Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Maggie Spear, The State Press. "Arizona offers a safe haven for newly displaced refugees." 26 June 2014. [statepress.com](https://www.statepress.com/article/2014/06/arizona-offers-a-safe-haven-for-newly-displaced-refugees). Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Gregory Jaynes, Smithsonian. "Coming to America." January 2004. [smithsonianmag.com](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/coming-to-america-107358405/). Checked 2026-11-12.
6. US Department of State, Refugee Processing Center. "FY 2025 Arrivals by State and Nationality as of 30 Sep 2025." [rpc.state.gov](https://www.rpc.state.gov/documents/FY%202025%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality%20as%20of%2030%20Sep%202025.pdf). Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Matthew Casey, KJZZ. "Independent oversight of Phoenix police has been slow. But this ex-Somali refugee is still hopeful." 24 May 2023. [kjzz.org](https://kjzz.org/content/1847694/independent-oversight-phoenix-police-has-been-slow-ex-somali-refugee-still-hopeful). Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Minnesota Reformer. "Feds making it harder for immigrants to send money to family." 10 March 2026. [minnesotareformer.com](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/03/10/feds-making-it-harder-for-immigrants-to-send-money-to-family/). Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Bailey Netsch, Humphrey Fellows blog, Cronkite School (ASU). "The Somali community in Phoenix: language barriers in education." 2 October 2016. [cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu](https://cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu/blog/2016/10/somali-community-phoenix-language-barriers-education). Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Phoenix New Times. "Many Somali refugees end up leaving Arizona, advocates say." 2017. [phoenixnewtimes.com](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/many-somali-refugees-end-up-leaving-arizona-advocates-say-9237535/). Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Matthew Casey, KJZZ. "Phoenix settles lawsuit by family of former Somali refugee fatally shot by police for $5.5 million." 1 November 2023. [kjzz.org](https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million). Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Somalia." [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
13. MPR News. "Judge's order allows end to TPS protections for people from Somalia." 17 August 2026. [mprnews.org](https://mprnews.org/story/2026/08/17/judges-order-allows-end-tps-protections-people-somalia). Checked 2026-11-12.
14. US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2024, Table 14. [ohss.dhs.gov](https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/yearbook/2024/table14). Checked 2026-11-12.
15. KJZZ. "Phoenix settles lawsuit with family of former Somali refugee fatally shot by police for $5.5 million". Nov 2023. https://kjzz.org/content/1861764/phoenix-settles-lawsuit-family-former-somali-refugee-fatally-shot-police-55-million. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. KJZZ. Phoenix police chief fires officer over 2022 shooting. 2024. https://kjzz.org/content/1876725/phoenix-police-chief-fires-officer-who-shot-ali-osman. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. Gospel Herald. "First Somali Bantu refugee families arrive in U.S.". 5 Jun 2003. https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/3050/20030605/first-somali-bantu-refugee-families-arrive-in-u-s.htm. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Idealist. Somali Bantu Association of Tucson Arizona (SBATA). https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/71ecc4bc9e7142b1a397e9953eda17ce-somali-bantu-association-of-tucson-arizona-sbata-tucson. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Arizona Daily Star. Article on Tucson's Somali Bantu. https://tucson.com/news/local/article_5449b3c7-2f3e-5d20-b787-e85bdaac645a.html. Checked 2026-11-12.

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