CHICAGO: The US state of Minnesota has reportedly seen a rise in instances of female genital mutilation, or FGM, especially among the growing Somali community.

More than 260,000 Somalis live in the US, with nearly 100,000 of them settled in Minnesota. About 50,000 Somalis live in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, represented by Somali American Rep. Ilhan Omar.

UN data shows that nearly 98 percent of Somalia’s female population aged between 15 and 49 have undergone the procedure.

The controversy over FGM in Minnesota has only added to the dark cloud of alleged fraud that is hanging over the state’s Somali community. US President Donald Trump made this subject a major part of his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, calling the fraudsters “Somali pirates.”

State and federal investigators have said Somalis in Minnesota have been implicated in the theft of billions of dollars in state and federal funds intended to support childcare, food programs for families and seniors, and healthcare and mental health programs. Officials contend that this has resulted in the loss of up to $9 billion in funding over many years. In his State of the Union speech, however, Trump said the fraud has cost American taxpayers as much as $19 billion.

Muslim leaders are speaking out against the practice of FGM. Imam Kifah Mustapha of the Orland Prayer Center, one of the largest mosques in Illinois, said FGM is not representative of Muslim religious practices and is not required by Islam.

“There is nothing in Islam that says it should be done as an obligation. There’s no such thing,” Mustapha told Arab News.

“It is not something that Islam urges parents or families to do for their children at all. It is not practiced at all in most Muslim countries. It is not something Islam urges people to do or obligates people to do. We know that most Muslim countries now even prohibit it, they don’t allow it anymore.”

Congress first banned FGM on girls under the age of 18 in 1996. However, a 2018 federal court ruling struck down that law as unconstitutional. President Trump toughened the law and signed the Stop FGM Act into law in 2021, imposing a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted.

Forty-one US states, including Minnesota, have enacted their own laws banning FGM. The nine states that have failed to adopt bans are Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico, all states with small Muslim populations.

Minnesota was one of the first states to pass an FGM law in 1994. State Rep. Mary Franson has been fighting ever since to strengthen its enforcement. She recently told the media that cultural secrecy makes FGM “exceptionally difficult to detect” in tight-knit communities.

Somali-born activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an author who survived FGM and has spoken out against it, has publicly described the lasting physical and psychological damage that she experienced. Hirsi Ali has called for a strong legal response.

Hirsi Ali was on Sunday quoted as saying: “Female genital mutilation is violence against the most vulnerable — children. It causes infection, incontinence, unbearable pain during childbirth and deep physical and emotional scars that never heal. Religious or cultural practices that deliberately and cruelly harm children must be confronted. No tradition can ever justify torture.”

In 2018, the UN Population Fund released a report showing that nearly 70 million girls will undergo FGM between 2015 and 2030.