US ends protection for Somalis amid escalating migrant crackdown

There is a large Somali community in Minnesota, the Midwestern state at the forefront of raids and searches by immigration officers, one of whom shot and killed a local woman last week, sparking protests.

Minnesota has sought a temporary restraining order for the ICE operation in the state which, if granted by a federal judge, would pause the enforcement sweeps that have so far reportedly led to 2,000 arrests.

In recent weeks Washington has lashed out at Somali immigrants, alleging large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the country with around 80,000 members.

The Department of Homeland Security said on X it was "ENDING Temporary Protected Status for Somalians in the United States."

"Our message is clear. Go back to your own country, or we'll send you back ourselves," it said.

DHS followed up by re-tweeting its initial post with a photograph of President Donald Trump and the caption "I am the captain now," a reference to the film "Captain Phillips" in which a tanker is seized by Somali pirates.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) shields certain foreigners from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work.

In November 2025, Trump wrote on social media: "I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota."

Tuesday's announcement set a March 17 departure deadline for Somalis losing their legal status.

Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress, said Saturday Trump is "trying to scare them and terrorize them every single day... And what we know is that Somalis are not intimidated."

On Tuesday, the Republican president took to his Truth Social platform to attack Democrats who lead Minneapolis, its twin city St. Paul, and Minnesota.

"Minnesota Democrats love the unrest that anarchists and professional agitators are causing because it gets the spotlight off of the 19 Billion Dollars that was stolen by really bad and deranged people," Trump wrote.

"FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!"

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) meanwhile has kept up its large-scale migrant sweeps across Minnesota, including Monday in the city of Detroit Lakes.

On Tuesday masked officers dragged a woman from her car as ICE agents conducted checks. Another individual was carried away by their limbs.

The Minneapolis Police Department said its overtime bill between January 8 and January 11 was $2 million. That period marked the height of protests sparked by the ICE-related killing, recordings of which were widely shared online.

Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot dead in her car by an ICE officer Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Fraud allegations
The Trump administration in recent months has latched onto news of a large-scale public benefit fraud scandal to carry out immigration raids and harsher policies targeting Minnesota's Somali community.

Federal charges have been filed against 98 people accused of embezzlement of public funds and -- as US Attorney General Pam Bondi stressed -- 85 of the defendants were "of Somali descent."

Fifty-seven people have already been convicted in the scheme to divert $300 million in public grants intended to distribute free meals to children -- but the meals never existed, prosecutors said.

Republican elected officials and federal prosecutors accuse local Democratic authorities of turning a blind eye to numerous warnings because the fraud involved Minnesota's Somali community.

Democratic Governor Tim Walz -- former vice president Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 election -- rejects the accusation.

While the case became public in 2022, prosecutors ramped it up again this year with hotly politicized revelations.

Situated on the Horn of Africa, war-torn Somalia has consistently been categorized as one of the world's least developed countries by the United Nations, and the US State Department maintains a level-four "Do Not Travel" advisory, its strongest warning.