President Donald Trump meets with African leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal at the White House on July 9. Trump announced on Friday he was “imediately” ending deportation protection for Somali immigrants living in Minnesota. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
President Donald Trump said he is “immediately” ending deportation protections for more than 400 Somali immigrants living in Minnesota.
Trumo made the announcement on Truth Social on Friday night.
The East African nation has had protection since 1991, and it was renewed on Sept. 18, 2024, through March 17, 2026, when Joe Biden was president.
“I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota,” he wrote. “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!”
He did not offer evidence related to the allegations of terrorist gangs in the state.
In addition, he blamed Democratic Gov. Walz of overseeing a state that had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” — also without proof.
“It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject,” Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election against Trump, said less than two hours later in a post on X.
TPS was created in 1979 to allow migrants who escaped “civil unrest, violence or natural disasters” from being deported from the United Stats.
Somalia, which for decades has experienced civil war and instability, is among 17 migrants’ countries with protection. Somalia’s population is 20 million.
There are 705 Somali immigrants approved for the status as of March 31 with 430 in Minnesota, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood east of downtown Minneapolis is nicknamed “Little Mogadishu” because of its large Somali population.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat representing Minneapolis and born in Somalia, blasted the decision.
“Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate. We are here to stay,” Omar wrote on X, noting that most Somalian immigrants are U.S. citizens.
Trump in the past has been at odds with Omar.
“I look at somebody that comes from Somalia, where they don’t have anything – they don’t have police, they don’t have military, they don’t have anything,” Trump said in a Nov. 11 interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “All they have is crime — and she comes in and tells us how to run our country.”
Since 1979, more than 26,000 Somali refugees moved to Minnesota, according to the state Department of Health.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, said his office is “monitoring the situation and exploring all of our options.
“Somali folks came to Minnesota fleeing conflict, instability and famine, and they have become an integral part of our state, our culture and our community,” Ellison wrote on Facebook. “Donald Trump cannot terminate TPS for just one state or on a bigoted whim.”
“I am confident that Minnesotans know better than to fall for Donald Trump’s scare tactics and scapegoating,” he added.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also spoke out with a Facebook post that he is “standing with our Somali community today. Minneapolis has your back — always.”
Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuthg, who is running for governor against Walz, applauded the decision.
“The unfortunate reality is that far too many individuals who were welcomed into this country have abused the trust and support that was extended to them, and Minnesota taxpayers have suffered billions of dollars in consequences as a result,” Demuth said in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Minnesota Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer adding a post posted on X that “accountability is coming.”
Emmers post linked to a report from right-wing Breitbart about a letter he wrote to Daniel Rosen, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, urging him to “open an investigation into reports that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are ending up in the hands of the al-Shabab terrorist network in Somalia.”
The move was criticized by Jaylani Hussein, president of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“This is not just a bureaucratic change; it is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric,” Hussein told CBS News. “We strongly urge President Trump to reverse this misguided decision.”
He added that the protection provided “a legal lifeline for families who have built their lives here for decades.”
Trump has also ended TPS protections for Afghan, Venezuelan, Syrian and South Sudanese nationals. Those actions from each have been challenged in courts.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump meets with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Friday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
