In a controversial move, the Trump administration has announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis living in the United States. This decision, announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, gives hundreds of Somali nationals just two months to leave the country or face deportation.
Noem justified the decision, stating that conditions in Somalia have improved sufficiently and that allowing Somalis to remain in the US would be “contrary to our national interests.” However, this decision has been met with fierce criticism from advocacy groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who have condemned it as a “bigoted attack” that will send some Somalis back to a war-torn and unstable nation.
The administration has cited issues with fraud in Minnesota, which is home to a large Somali community, as a pretext to send a surge of immigration officers into the state. President Trump has made inflammatory comments about Somalis, referring to them as “garbage” and making unsubstantiated claims about the militant group al-Shabaab benefiting from fraud in Minnesota.
This latest move is part of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration. The Temporary Protected Status program, established by Congress in 1990, has allowed the executive branch to designate countries facing unstable or threatening conditions, granting temporary legal status to their nationals living in the US. However, the Trump administration has sought to end TPS designations for multiple countries during his second term.
Somalis have been granted TPS since 1991 during the country’s civil war, and the status has been repeatedly renewed by successive administrations. However, the Biden administration’s recent extension of TPS for Somalis through March 2026 will now be cut short by the Trump administration’s decision.
Advocacy groups and state officials have condemned the move, with Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison accusing the administration of sowing “chaos and terror” across the state. The decision has also sparked protests, including after the fatal shooting of an American citizen by a federal immigration agent during an enforcement operation in South Minneapolis.
As the clock ticks down, hundreds of Somali nationals face an uncertain future, with the potential for deportation to a country still grappling with persistent violence, severe drought, and widespread humanitarian crises. Critics argue that this decision puts vulnerable individuals at severe risk and reflects an agenda of exclusion, rather than concern for public safety.
