Programs seeking to stem terrorist recruiting in U.S.

Forum at White House will share cities’ ideas.

cruited. He promised regular updates on the pilot over the next year.

The U.S. attorneys’ offices for Los Angeles and Boston have said less publicly about their programs, and declined to speak in detail about them ahead of the summit.

Overcoming distrust has been a challenge for federal officials. The Los Angeles program has drawn criticism from civil rights groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Haroon Manjlai, a spokesman for CAIR’s Los Angeles chapter, said the group is worried that the program will infringe on Muslims’ freedom of speech and religion and might hurt their public image.

CAIR’s national office issued a statement ahead of the summit questioning the effectiveness of programs closely tied to a government that many Muslims don’t trust.

“Credible community voices who are not viewed as ‘being in the government’s pocket’ are necessary,” CAIR said.

Especially in Minnesota, the radicalization of Muslim youth has been a major concern. More than 22 Somali men have gone to Somalia to fight for the radical group alShabab. Several others have gone or tried to go to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group.

Luger said some of the pilot project’s work already has begun. U.S.Customs and Border Protection has agreed to hold a series of job fairs to encourage local Somalis to apply.