Trump says he is ending immigration protections for Somalis in Minnesota | US immigration
Donald Trump said Friday evening that he was “immediately” ending temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, targeting a program to limit deportations that his administration has repeatedly sought to weaken.
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the country. Many fled the long civil war in their East African country and were drawn to the state’s welcoming social programs.
But the number of migrants who would be affected by Trump’s announcement that he wants to end temporary protected status could be very small. A report produced for Congress in August estimated the number of Somalis covered by the program at just 705 nationwide.
Congress created the program granting temporary protected status in 1990. It was intended to prevent deportations of people to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil unrest or other dangerous conditions.
Designation may be granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security and is granted in 18-month increments.
The president announced his decision on his social media site, suggesting that Minnesota was “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of this great state, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back where they came from,” Trump wrote. “It’s FINISHED!”
Trump promised during his campaign to win back the White House last year that his administration would deport millions of people. As part of a broader push to enact sweeping immigration policies, the Trump administration moved to remove various protections that allowed immigrants to stay in the United States and work legally.
This included ending TPS for 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who had protections under President Joe Biden. The Trump administration has also sought to limit protections previously afforded to migrants from Cuba and Syria, among other countries.
