Trump pledge to ‘immediately’ end protections for Minnesota Somalis sparks fear and legal questions

Former President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would “immediately” terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis living in Minnesota has sparked widespread concern among the state’s immigrant communities and raised significant legal questions.

In a late Friday post on Truth Social, Trump declared his intention to strip this legal protection from Somali residents in Minnesota, which hosts the nation’s largest Somali American community. The unexpected announcement drew swift criticism from state officials and immigration experts who questioned both the legality and motivation behind such a targeted action.

“There’s no legal mechanism that allows the president to terminate protected status for a particular community or state that he has beef with,” explained Heidi Altman, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center. She characterized Trump’s statement as consistent with his previous approach of “demagoguing immigrants without justification.”

Immigration experts note that while a president can terminate TPS designations for entire countries, the law does not allow for singling out specific states or communities within the United States. The Trump administration would have until mid-January to revoke TPS for Somalis nationally, but such a move would affect relatively few Minnesota residents. According to a recent congressional report, only 705 Somalis nationwide currently hold TPS status.

Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota who is herself a Somali American, downplayed the practical impact of Trump’s announcement. “I am a citizen and so are (the) majority of Somalis in America,” she noted on social media. “Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate.”

Despite the limited scope of potential policy changes, community advocates warn that Trump’s rhetoric could fuel discrimination against Minnesota’s Somali community at a time when anti-Muslim sentiment is already on the rise.

“This is not just a bureaucratic change,” said Jaylani Hussein, president of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric.”

In his social media post, Trump made unsubstantiated claims about Somali gangs targeting Minnesota residents and described the state as a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.” While federal prosecutors have recently filed charges against dozens of people in a social services fraud scheme, including some defendants of Somali descent, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pointed out that the state consistently ranks among the safest in the country.

“It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community,” Walz said. “This is what he does to change the subject.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated his office was “exploring all of our options,” emphasizing that Trump “cannot terminate TPS for just one state or on a bigoted whim.”

Somalia has been designated for TPS protection 27 times since 1991, with U.S. authorities consistently determining that conditions remain unsafe for return. The East African nation has faced ongoing instability since the removal of leader Siad Barre in 1991, which triggered civil war and eventually led to the rise of the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group that continues to control parts of the country.

Community advocates highlight the significant positive contributions of Somali Americans to Minnesota. The diaspora has revitalized downtown areas in Minneapolis and plays an important role in the state’s political landscape.

“The truth is that the Somali community is beloved and long-woven into the fabric of many neighborhoods and communities in Minnesota,” Altman said. “Destabilizing families and communities makes all of us less safe and not more.”

Trump’s announcement aligns with his broader immigration agenda, which has included efforts to withdraw various protections allowing immigrants to remain and work legally in the United States. His administration has previously moved to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians who received protection under President Biden, and has sought to limit protections for migrants from Cuba, Syria, and other countries.