Somali-American refugee Abdi Iftin joins Will Cain to take you inside the world of Somali immigration to America. Plus, Chef Andrew Gruel breaks down the ideal American Christmas meal and a top Christmas movies draft.

Nairobi, Kenya, December 2011:

I am in Kenya to research my seventh John Wells novel, "The Night Ranger." Wells is chasing American missionaries taken into the bush by Somali mercenaries. It is a change of pace for him, lower stakes than his usual work. It will turn out to be one of my favorite novels.

I have visited a vast Somali refugee camp in northern Kenya and the Indian Ocean coast, where Somali kidnappers have recently captured and killed several Europeans.

Now I am back in Nairobi, talking about the problem of Somalia, which Kenyans face up close. Kenya is mostly Christian. Somalis are Muslim — and poor even by African standards. Kenya needs Western safari tourism for jobs and cash. The kidnappings have not helped. Kenyans would rather keep their neighbors out. But the United Nations and international aid groups have given them little choice (oh, the irony; poor countries hate open borders even more than rich ones).

DHS REVIEWS CITIZENSHIP CASES FROM SOMALIA, OTHER HIGH RISK COUNTRIES FOR POSSIBLE FRAUD

Anyway, I am having drinks at a hotel talking about Somalia with (white) non-governmental aid workers — they live well, these NGO types. And one says:

"Here’s what you need to know about Somalia. It’s on the ocean, right? [Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa, almost 2,000 miles.] But most Somalis, they can’t swim, can’t fish, they have no interest in the water. That’s how inward-facing they are, how tribal."

The words stuck with me. And 14 years later, they help explain the multi-billion dollar Somali corruption scandal in Minnesota, which exploded into one of the biggest stories of 2025.

BESSENT TURNS UP HEAT ON SPRAWLING MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEMES AS TREASURY PERSONNEL DEPLOY ON THE GROUND

The Somalis are tribal, but they are not alone.

It is impossible to understand the massive chunk of the world that runs from Morocco 4,000 miles east to Pakistan and south across Africa without realizing the importance of tribes. This area covers nearly two billion people, mostly Muslim — but includes hundreds of millions of Christians too. It is mostly poor, but it also has the wealthy Gulf Arab nations.

What it shares more than anything is a commitment to tribe as the center of identity. In Arab and Muslim countries,........

© Fox News