Protections Terminated

Trump said he terminated temporary deportation protections for Somali immigrants living in Minnesota.

Context

The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program was established by Congress in 1990 and allows officials to grant temporary legal immigration status to migrants from disaster- or war-stricken countries. Somalia was first granted TPS protections in 1991 due to civil war and instability. The protections have been extended 27 times since then, with the Biden Administration last extending them through March 2026. Only 705 Somali-born individuals nationwide currently hold TPS status, while over 75,000 people with Somali heritage live in Minnesota.

Trump’s Announcement

On Friday night, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was terminating TPS for Somalis in Minnesota, claiming that "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing." He also described Minnesota as a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity" under Democratic Governor Tim Walz.

The announcement came after Republican lawmakers shared a report from a conservative think tank, the Manhattan Institute, alleging that some members of Minnesota's Somali community had fraudulently rerouted state welfare funds to a Somali terrorist group.

Fraud Allegations

Federal prosecutors said in September that billions had been defrauded from the state government in "massive fraud schemes," with dozens of people charged in connection with fraudulent claims under Minnesota's Medicaid housing and autism services programs. Claims under the autism program increased by 13,200% between 2018 and 2023, from $3M to $399M. 

A report from City Journal – a magazine published by the Manhattan Institute – alleged that millions of dollars in stolen funds were sent to households in Somalia, where some money may have ended up with al-Shabaab, a terrorist group that operates in parts of Somalia. Federal prosecutors did not confirm allegations about money being sent to terrorist groups.

Reactions

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar (D) said that she and most Somalis in America are citizens and said, "We are here to stay." Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) said Governor Walz "helped create this system and shrugs his shoulders every day when yet another fraud story is revealed."

The Trump Administration has also moved to terminate TPS designations for Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.