US ending temporary protected status for Somalis

Kyeland Jackson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 13, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — The federal government is ending temporary protected status for Somalis in the United States, potentially affecting hundreds of people across the U.S. and Minnesota.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the move on Jan. 13, giving Somali people with a protected status until March 17 to leave the United States. Tuesday’s announcement follows weeks of escalating Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions affecting migrants and citizens in Minnesota — the state which hosts the nation’s largest Somali population.

“Our message is clear. Go back to your own country, or we’ll send you back ourselves,” DHS said in a social media post. “(Gov. Tim Walz) has refused to cooperate with ICE and released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minnesota to terrorize Americans. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets.”

“Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

A 2023 report found that more than 400 Somali people in Minnesota have temporary protected status, compared with around 700 Somalis with such status spread across the nation.

Many Somali immigrants moved to Minnesota for social connections, a strong network of refugee resettlement agencies and for the state’s welcoming reputation. Economic opportunities have kept them here. Nearly all Somalis in Minnesota are citizens or legal residents, and a few hundred reside in the state with Temporary Protected Status, which was first granted to Somali refugees in 1991.

Department officials shared President Donald Trump’s comment on the move, which decried former President Joe Biden’s border policy and defended ICE agents’ deployment in Minnesota. Hundreds clashed with ICE agents outside a Somali strip mall in St. Cloud on Jan. 12 before officials announced 1,000 more federal officers are headed to 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 said in a social media post. “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”

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