The Trump administration is shutting down Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia — ending three decades of special protections and ordering affected migrants to leave the country by March 17.
“Temporary means temporary,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital. “Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status.”
“Allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests,” she said. “We are putting Americans first.”
According to Fox News Digital, 2,471 Somali nationals currently live in the U.S. under TPS, with another 1,383 applications pending at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Officials estimate that about 600 Somali nationals with TPS reside in Minnesota — a state now under heightened DHS scrutiny following a $9 billion fraud scandal involving members of the Somali community.
The Department of Homeland Security has ramped up ICE operations in Minneapolis, citing widespread welfare-fraud schemes that rocked the state.
The most infamous case, Feeding Our Future, saw hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds stolen through fake meal programs. Prosecutors say dozens of individuals — many tied to fraudulent nonprofits — have already been charged.
Somalia was first granted TPS in 1991, during its brutal civil war. The designation had been renewed repeatedly under both Republican and Democratic administrations — most recently by President Joe Biden in September 2024.
Now, under Trump’s directive, the policy’s end marks a sharp turn toward immigration restriction and national security emphasis.
More over at Fox News:
🚨🚨🚨NEW: President Trump ends temporary protected status for thousands of Somalis in US
‘Somali migrants with TPS will be required to leave the country by March 17’https://t.co/Bth3c5xDlF
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 13, 2026
