Washington, DC, United States – U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an immediate end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis living in Minnesota, abruptly winding down a humanitarian program first launched in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush.
In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump claimed—without presenting evidence—that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State” and that “BILLIONS of Dollars are missing.” He then declared he was “terminating, effective immediately,” the TPS program for Somalis in Minnesota.
Trump went on to call Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” under Democratic Governor Tim Walz, citing unverified media reports circulated by some Republican lawmakers. Those reports alleged that Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group may have benefitted from fraud tied to Minnesota.
Governor Walz pushed back on X, saying, “It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject.”
TPS is designed to protect eligible foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home countries due to conflict, disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. Although 17 countries are currently designated, the Trump administration has pursued terminations for several, including Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The Biden administration had previously extended Somalia’s TPS designation through March 17, 2026. Only 705 Somali-born individuals nationwide hold TPS status—far fewer than the majority of Minnesota’s Somali community, who are U.S. citizens. For comparison, more than 330,000 Haitians and over 170,000 Salvadorans currently benefit from TPS.
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticized the decision as both harmful and unnecessary.
“These are legal immigrants, and they shouldn’t suffer because their community is being used as a political football,” he said, warning the move could tear families apart.
Abshir Omar, a political strategist who supported Trump in the 2024 election, predicted the decision would face legal challenges. He also cautioned that it could damage the long-standing economic and security partnership between the U.S. and Somalia—especially after Somalia recently granted the U.S. exclusive access to key air bases and ports and signaled interest in American investment in its oil sector.
