The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali nationals, marking another significant development in the president’s comprehensive immigration enforcement agenda. This decision directly impacts hundreds of Somali immigrants who have resided legally in the United States under humanitarian protections initially established during President George H.W. Bush’s administration in 1991.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem justified the move by asserting that conditions in Somalia have “improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status.” Affected individuals must now depart the United States by March 17, when existing protections—previously extended by the Biden administration—are set to expire. “Temporary means temporary,” Noem emphasized, adding that the decision prioritizes “Americans first.”
This policy shift occurs against a backdrop of heightened tensions in Minneapolis, home to a substantial Somali-American community. Recent protests have intensified following the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during demonstrations against federal presence in the city.
According to Congressional Research Service data, Somali TPS recipients number approximately 705 individuals—a small fraction within the nearly 1.3 million immigrants benefiting from such protections nationwide. The TPS program, created by Congress in 1990, provides temporary sanctuary for foreign nationals fleeing unstable or dangerous conditions in their home countries.
Despite administration claims of improved conditions, Somalia remains one of the world’s poorest nations, grappling with decades of chronic conflict exacerbated by severe natural disasters. A 2025 congressional report documented more than two dozen extensions for Somali TPS recipients due to persistent “insecurity and ongoing armed conflict that present serious threats to the safety of returnees.”
The decision aligns with President Trump’s pattern of targeting Somali immigrants through both policy and rhetoric. In December, Trump declared he “did not want Somalis” in the U.S., alleging they “come from hell” and “contribute nothing”—comments that made no distinction between citizens and non-citizens. The president has particularly focused his criticism on Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a Somali-American congresswoman and U.S. citizen whom he has repeatedly suggested should be deported, once referring to her as “garbage.”
Omar, an outspoken critic of ICE operations in Minneapolis, has characterized Trump’s “obsession” with her and Somali-Americans as “creepy and unhealthy.” This latest immigration policy change reinforces the administration’s broader pattern of rolling back humanitarian protections across multiple nations during Trump’s second term.