As President Donald Trump is moving to end the Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in the US, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that for Somalis now the best option would be to self-deport before they are detained. "When someone's temporary protected status is lifted, they become illegal aliens who aren't allowed to live or work in the US," the ICE said. The US has recently ended the TPS for Myanmar.
Donald Trump vowed a crackdown on Somalis in Minnesota before the DC shooting that prompted him to stop Green Cards and immigration requests from all third-world countries. Trump called Minnesota a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity under Democratic Governor Tim Walz and announced that he would be ending the TPS program for Somalis in Minnesota.
"Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing," Trump announced on Truth Social on November 21. "I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota," he said.
The TPS program for Somalis was launched by then-President George HW Bush in September 1991. It grants government protection to eligible foreign-born individuals who cannot return home safely due to civil war or natural disasters. Apart from Myanmar, Trump has already ended the protected status for Venezuela and Nicaragua.
What is happening in Minnesota right now?
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the United States—more than 61,000 persons of the state’s approximately 5.7-million population have reported Somali ancestry, according to census data. The money laundering allegations come from a Covid time child nutrition program operated by nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, with reported ties to the Somali community, which was implicated in an alleged $300 million fraud scheme with more than 70 defendants.
After the DC shooting, Trump ordered a review of Green Cards issued to migrants from 19 countries, including Somalia. He followed it up with a Thanksgiving message posted on Truth Social where he announced that US would permanently pause migration from 'third-world' countries.
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