DHS announces termination of protected status for Somalis after group targeted by Trump

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in March, effectively forcing as many as 2,400 people out of the U.S., despite the president's remarks last month that Somalia was "barely a country." Somali migrants with TPS will be required to leave the country by March 17, Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Tuesday. That is, unless a court pauses the TPS revocation. "Temporary means temporary," Noem wrote in a statement to ABC News. "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. We are putting Americans first." In this Nov. 17, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump, is shown with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, at a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee/Getty Images, FILE The move comes after President Donald Trump has recently criticized Somali immigrants, describing them as "garbage" and saying he doesn't want them in the United States during a Cabinet meeting last month. "We always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they're good at is going after ships," Trump said as he addressed supporters in Pennsylvania last month. Trump describes Somali immigrants as 'garbage' amid feud with Minnesota congresswoman, governor The president doubled down on his criticism of the Somali community on Tuesday and threatened to denaturalize anyone convicted of fraud. "We've got a lot of them out already, but we're getting them out. We're also going to revoke the citizenship of any naturalized immigrant from Somalia, or anywhere else, who is convicted of defrauding our citizens," he said during an event in Detroit. "We're going to get them the hell out of here fast." DHS made a reference to Tuesday's announcement in an X post that had a black and white photo of Trump in the Oval Office that referenced the 2013 movie "Captain Phillips," which dramatized the 2009 merchant boat hostage situation by Somali pirates. "I am the captain now," DHS wrote in the post. TPS is given to nationals of select countries who are unable to return home safely due to conditions such as famine, war and environmental disasters. Immigrants who have TPS designation can not be removed by DHS and are given an Eligible for an Employment Authorization Document that allows them to legally work in the U.S. Somalis in Minnesota say ICE agents already targeting their community Somalia has been under a TPS designation since 1991, when civil war broke out and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians. It has been renewed several times over the last 34 years as the conflict has grown. The State Department currently has a travel advisory -- in effect since May of last year -- warning people not to travel to Somalia due to "crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health, kidnapping, piracy" and other issues. Noem did not go into further detail about her description of improved conditions in Somalia, which appear to contradict the State Department's advisory. In this Oct. 8, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump listens to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak during a roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images, FILE Immigration attorneys who spoke with ABC News Tuesday criticized DHS's claim that conditions in Somalia have improved. "That statement is really belied and contradicted by the facts on the ground," Greg Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told ABC News. "The State Department's own website warns that the country continues to see terrorism, violent crime and civil unrest." Chen said that conditions in Somalia have worsened, pointing to the escalating conflict between the federal government and the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. In this Nov. 11, 2025, file photo, Somali soldiers are shown near armored personnel carriers, in Sabiid Canole, Somalia. Jackson Njehia/AP, FILE "To suggest that it is safe for Somali nationals to be forced to return to a country with an active military conflict doesn't make sense from a safety consideration, or from the statutory requirements for TPS established by Congress," Chen said. Chen said that while some individuals may qualify for legal status through family members or other forms of relief, many others will be left without a lawful path to remain in the country. David Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minnesota who represents Somali TPS holders, told ABC News that some clients who have lived in the U.S. since the late 1990s now face potential deportation. "There are also people who arrived more recently to escape the growing threat of Al-Shabaab who are now truly fearful," Wilson said. Wilson argued that the administration is "trying to sell a vision of a much different country than the rest of the world knows to be true." PHOTO: Protesters march through frigid conditions, with temperatures near 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius), in a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Dec. 20, 2025. Protesters march through frigid conditions, with temperatures near 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius), in a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Dec. 20, 2025, where many Somali, Latino and Hispanic immigrants live and work, during the "MN Love Our Immigrant Neighbors - ICE Out of MN!" rally calling for the removal of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from Minnesota. Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images, FILE As of 2024, there are nearly 260,000 Americans of Somali descent living in the U.S, according to the census. Of that population, more than 115,000 are foreign-born and more than 93,000 -- or more than 80% -- of the foreign-born population are naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the census data. Trump has repeatedly bashed the American Somali community, particularly the ones living in Minnesota, which has the largest share of Somali nationals in the country, according to the census. As of Tuesday, there are 2,471 Somali nationals currently in the U.S. under TPS, with 1,383 in the country with pending TPS applications, a source with knowledge of the data told ABC News. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has slammed Trump for his comments targeting Somalis. "We've got little children going to school today, who their president called them 'garbage,'" Walz said at an event last month. Trump has repeated his criticisms against the Somali community following reports of fraud in the state, allegedly perpetrated by Somali immigrants against Minnesota's social services system. Trump ramps up anti-immigrant rhetoric, embraces 's---hole countries' phrase The allegations are being investigated; Minnesota officials have disputed the allegations. The Trump administration has revoked and refused to renew TPS protections for several countries since he took office last year -- including for Venezuelan nationals. However, those decisions have been fought in court cases that have argued that DHS has made its moves in part by racial animus, citing the president and Noem's rhetoric. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.