MINNEAPOLIS — US President Donald Trump said he is “immediately” ending temporary legal protections for some Somali immigrants living in Minnesota, a move that has stirred fear in a community long reliant on the program to avoid deportation to conflict-ridden Somalia.
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, many of whom fled decades of civil war and instability. While most Somali residents in the state hold permanent legal status, employment authorization or citizenship, Trump’s decision could directly affect several hundred people still protected under the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS.
A report submitted to Congress in August estimated that only 705 Somalis nationwide currently hold TPS. The designation shields people from deportation to countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions, and is renewed in 18-month increments by the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump accused Minnesota of becoming a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and targeted Somali youth in particular in a social media post that civil rights groups condemned as inflammatory. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the decision would “tear families apart,” calling it a political attack aimed at Somali and Muslim communities.
Community leaders in Minnesota said Trump’s rhetoric has heightened fear and tension among Somali residents, who worry the move could deepen divisions and increase pressure on immigrants. Advocates say they expect legal and humanitarian organizations to challenge the policy and work to protect the small number of Somalis who still rely on TPS.
