The Donald Trump administration announced that it is ending the Temporary Protected Status for Somalis and all Somalis living in the country under this protection have to leave the US 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."
There are 2,471 Somali nationals currently in the US under TPS, with 1,383 in the country with pending TPS applications. 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 is not sudden as President announced before that US would end TPS for Somalis.
Kristi Noem's announcement comes as Somali nationals in Minnesota are at the center of a major controversy, as they have been allegedly associated with welfare fraud. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz opted out of the 2026 Guv election, coming under political pressure as the alleged scam took place under his watch. A major ICE crackdown is going on in Minneapolis amid protests against the killing of Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
List of countries that lost TPS in US in 2025
Afghanistan
Cameroon
Honduras
Nicaragua
Nepal
Venezuela
Ethiopia
Myanmar (Burma)
Syria
But there are legal challenges as a court blocked attempts to end TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and also South Sudan.
What happens when a country loses TPS
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian immigration program that allows people from certain countries to stay and work legally in the US. It is not a visa, it is a temporary immigration program meant for nationals from war-ravaged countries or any country facing any natural disaster. Under this protection, these nationals can't be deported and they can work legally in the US.
When a country loses this status, its nationals are no longer protected from removal. Their work permit linked to their TPS status will also expire.
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