Trump administration ends temporary protected status for thousands of Somalis in US

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is ending temporary protection status (TPS) for Somalia, affecting several thousand Somalis currently living in the U.S. and several hundred currently living in Minnesota under the protection.

Somali migrants with TPS will be required to leave the country by March 17. 

"Temporary means temporary," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status." 

"Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests," Noem added. "We are putting Americans first."

ILHAN OMAR KICKED OUT OF ICE FACILITY AFTER DHS REQUIRES WEEK'S ADVANCE NOTICE

Sources at USCIS told Fox News Digital that there are 2,471 Somali nationals currently in the U.S. under TPS, with 1,383 in the country with pending TPS applications. 

The move comes as DHS continues ICE operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a widespread roughly $9 billion fraud scheme involving members of the Somali community plagued the state. 

Fox News Digital learned that an estimated 600 Somali nationals who are protected by TPS live in Minnesota.

KRISTI NOEM TELLS CNN'S JAKE TAPPER THAT HE CAN'T 'CHANGE THE FACTS' ABOUT MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING

Somalia was granted temporary protection status in 1991 as a result of an ongoing civil war in the African nation. President Joe Biden most recently extended the protection in September 2024.

The decision to end TPS for Somalia also comes a day after the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued the Trump administration after a historic federal immigration enforcement operation was launched by ICE and DHS.

"We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB

"DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area," Ellison added.

Last week, during ICE operations in south Minneapolis, a woman was fatally shot by an immigration officer as she drove her vehicle toward agents, prompting agitators to riot across the city in the following days.

Noem labeled the woman who was killed, Renee Nicole Good, as a "domestic terrorist," asserting that Good "weaponized her vehicle" after blocking ICE agents on the road.

KRISTI NOEM FIRES BACK AT DEMS AMID IMPEACHMENT THREAT OVER FATAL MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

Footage from the encounter shows an agent approaching Good’s vehicle and ordering her to step out. According to Noem, Good then attempted to run over an officer, prompting the agent to fire multiple shots into the car, killing the 37-year-old.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to "get the f--- out of Minneapolis," during a news conference after Good’s death, and Gov. Tim Walz criticized DHS, posting to X that he saw the video, and referred to Noem’s explanation of the incident as a part of a "propaganda machine."

Agitators blocked off the street where Good was killed using homemade barricades, creating a no-go zone the day after her death. Streets were blocked off with rioters directing traffic and little to no local police presence was seen in the area.

Despite the unrest, DHS operations continued in Minneapolis, prompting clashes between agitators and immigration agents.