The Department of Homeland Security revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Somalis living in the United States, including the hundreds currently residing in Minnesota, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to crack down on widespread welfare fraud and immigration violations in the state.
Somalis were initially granted TPS in 1991 as conditions in the country deteriorated as a result of civil war. President Joe Biden extended TPS protection for Somalis in September 2024. Somali migrants living in the U.S. under TPS have until March 17 to leave the country.
“Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to National Review. “Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first.”
There are currently 2,471 Somali nationals living in the U.S., 600 of whom reside in Minnesota. The Somali population in Minnesota has come under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks because of allegations of widespread welfare fraud within the community. Federal prosecutors have established that welfare fraud rings have preyed on Covid aid programs, Medicare, and other social service offerings, stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers in just the last few years.
The move from the Trump administration comes as DHS continues to conduct Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota. Minneapolis and St. Paul are suing the Trump administration following widespread ICE raids in the area.
“We’re here to announce a lawsuit we’re filing against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to end the unlawful, unprecedented surge of the federal law enforcement agents into Minnesota,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a news conference Monday.
Ellison alleged that Minnesota, in particular, is being targeted by the administration because of its “diversity, for our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government.”
Tensions in Minnesota have reached a fever pitch in recent days as thousands of protesters flooded Minneapolis to protest the death of Renee Nicole Good, after she was shot and killed during an ICE operation. Good, who was a member of a local “ICE Watch” group, parked her car perpendicularly across a residential street where an ICE operation was taking place. After ignoring multiple orders to exit her vehicle, she drove in the direction of an ICE officer who was approaching her vehicle from the front. The officer fired three shots into Good’s vehicle in what DHS says was self-defense.