For new immigrants to this country, the election year battles can seem abstract to their daily struggles of finding work, getting kids to school and just functioning in a society where they don’t speak the language.

Eden Prairie resident Martin Mohamed wants to make sure the new citizens in immigrant groups in Eden Prairie know that they should vote. Mohamed, who is working to start an immigrant cultural center or multi-cultural center in Eden Prairie next year, said he’s been visiting different groups in Eden Prairie, distributing a brochure on the voting process. Last Friday, he said he was heading to the local Mosque (which many Eden Prairie Somalis attend).He said he just wants to encourage people to go out there “let their voice be heard.”

Mohamed said immigrants (as in the case of the Somali population) come from countries with unstable governments. Making the connection that their vote is important is the challenge, for those that might not want to engage in government.

“What I’m doing here, is to change that thinking,” he said.

For approaching those in the Hispanic community, Mohamed has consulted with Jazmine Garcia.Garcia, a Richfield resident, is on the board of directors of the future cultural center in EP.

The center is meant to empower new immigrants. “Because when we empower the new immigrants we will be able to empower the community,” she said.

Language can be a strong barrier to hearing the message about voting, she noted.

“We encourage people to know how important their vote is and their rights.”

Mohamed said they are going to where the immigrants in Eden Prairie are found, to show them information about voting, and to encourage them not to be afraid. According to Mohamed, there will be a growing population of immigrants in Eden Prairie, specifically of Somali and Hispanic people.

“We have a growing immigrant population who can go out and vote,” he said.

He estimated there could be from 5,000 to 7,000 newcomers who could go out and vote. But, he noted, that same group of new immigrants tends to get ignored as an election issue.

He said there is a notion, that like a wave of Russian immigrants, Somalis and Hispanics will go elsewhere, “but they are not.”

At one debate, he noted, candidates talked about how Eden Prairie is doing well.

“Eden Prairie’s doing well for only certain groups.

“If you are poor, you are not doing well,” he added.

According to Mohamed, Eden Prairie will be at the center of a growing community of Somalis moving into the southwest suburbs. With a growing population, issues of increasing affordable housing will come to the forefront. There is a growing community in EP, he said, “yet it’s very hard for immigrant families to afford the rent there.”

Mohamed is calling upon the city to “remove barriers that block affordable housing.

“Our demographic has changed. We have to plan for the future.”