- Somali arrivals in Manitoba surged after TPS expired on March 17, 2026, causing a border crisis.
- Advocates report families are fleeing to Winnipeg to avoid potential deportation and loss of work rights.
- Stricter rules like the Safe Third Country Agreement make northern crossings increasingly dangerous for refugees.
(MANITOBA, CANADA) — Immigration advocates in Manitoba reported a surge in Somali arrivals from the United States after Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status expired on March 17, 2026, pushing more families toward Winnipeg and the Emerson border area.
Advocates in Winnipeg and Emerson said the flow has reached a critical point as Somalis in the United States lose protection from deportation and work authorization. They linked the increase to the end of the latest TPS extension and to what they described as a worsening legal climate in the United States.
The movement echoes the border crisis seen in 2017, with Manitoba again emerging as a destination for people seeking refuge in Canada. Winnipeg’s established Somali community has made the province a natural destination, while Emerson has remained a focal point for those attempting to cross.
The latest turn stems from a policy decision made in 2024. On July 22, 2024, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the extension and redesignation of Somalia for TPS for 18 months.
“Through the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status, the United States will be able to offer safety and protection to Somali nationals who may not be able to return to their country due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions,” Mayorkas said on July 22, 2024.
That TPS extension and redesignation took effect on September 18, 2024, and ran through March 17, 2026. Somali nationals residing in the United States as of July 12, 2024, could apply under the redesignation.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimated that 600 current beneficiaries were eligible for extension and approximately 2,300 additional Somali nationals became eligible under the redesignation. With that period now over, the Temporary Protected Status protections tied to the 2024 action have lapsed.
For Somalis who did not secure another extension or an alternative legal status, the expiration carries immediate consequences. Advocates said those individuals now face possible removal proceedings and have entered a period of legal limbo.
They described that pressure as the force driving people north. In their account, the end of the TPS extension has turned an already fragile situation into a crackdown, especially for people who had relied on the status to remain and work legally in the United States.
Loss of protection means more than a change on paper. Once TPS expires, affected people can lose both work authorization and protection from deportation, leaving families to decide whether to remain in the United States without status or attempt a move to Canada.
Advocates in Manitoba said that fear has accelerated migration despite the risks. They reported that families are trying to reach the province in harsh weather conditions because they no longer see the United States as a safe harbor for Somali refugees.
Manitoba’s role in this migration pattern is longstanding. Advocates including representatives from Aurora Family Service and Hospitality House Refugee Ministry said the province, and Winnipeg in particular, remains a primary destination because of the Somali diaspora already established there.
That community connection matters. People arriving from the United States often head to places where relatives, friends, or a broader cultural network can help them settle, find services, and navigate a new asylum process.
The Emerson area has also taken on added weight because of its position on the border. For Somalis seeking refuge in Canada, it remains one of the best-known crossing zones in Manitoba, even as border rules have tightened sharply.
Canadian policy changed in March 2023, when the Safe Third Country Agreement expanded to cover the entire land border. Before that change, migrants who crossed between official ports of entry such as Emerson could make asylum claims in Canada.
That route no longer works in the same way. Since the expansion, the STCA applies along the full land border, closing off what had been a better-known path for people trying to avoid return to the United States after presenting at an official crossing.
Current Canadian law has added another obstacle through what is commonly called the 14-day rule. People caught crossing irregularly from the United States can be returned to the United States unless they have been in Canada for at least 14 days without detection or qualify for family-link exemptions.
Advocates said that rule has changed the behavior of people on the move. Instead of reducing crossings, they said, it has pushed them toward more secretive and dangerous routes in rural Manitoba.
That has raised concern about safety as well as legal exposure. Families trying to enter Canada now face the twin risks of enforcement and the physical danger of traveling in isolated border areas and severe weather.
The end of Somalia’s TPS period has sharpened that danger because the timing leaves fewer legal options. Somalis whose status lapsed on March 17, 2026, face a compressed choice between remaining in the United States without protection or taking the risk of moving north.
Advocates said the sense of urgency has intensified because U.S. authorities have signaled tougher enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security has emphasized that “individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to removal.”
That message has landed hard among Somali families who had depended on TPS. The status did not provide permanent residence, but it offered temporary protection and work authorization during the designation period, and its end has left many exposed.
The numbers tied to the 2024 redesignation show the limited size of the formal program, but advocates said its expiration reaches beyond those statistics. USCIS counted 600 current beneficiaries eligible for extension and approximately 2,300 additional Somali nationals eligible under the redesignation, yet the anxiety has spread through wider family and community networks.
In Manitoba, that fear has converged with the province’s role as a receiving point. Winnipeg’s Somali community offers familiarity and support, while the border geography around Emerson keeps drawing those who believe Canada may still offer protection despite the tighter rules.
The result is a movement shaped by both policy and kinship. The expiration of the TPS extension has made legal status more precarious in the United States, and Manitoba’s diaspora ties have made the province a destination when people decide they can no longer stay.
Advocates said the pattern also shows how border measures on one side can shift pressure to the other. As the United States moves into a stricter enforcement posture after the TPS deadline, and Canada maintains a broader Safe Third Country Agreement, Somali families are left navigating a narrowing corridor between removal risk and a difficult border crossing.
The phrase border crisis has re-entered conversation in Manitoba because of those overlapping pressures. For local groups, the comparison to 2017 reflects not only rising arrivals but also the same mix of urgency, uncertainty, and cross-border legal complexity.
Somalia’s TPS cycle itself followed a set timeline. Mayorkas announced the extension and redesignation on July 22, 2024, it became effective on September 18, 2024, and it expired on March 17, 2026, ending the 18-month period set out by DHS.
Eligibility was tied to residence in the United States as of July 12, 2024. That cutoff widened access under the redesignation, but it also fixed the temporary nature of the protection, leaving recipients vulnerable once the period ended absent a further government action.
No new extension had taken effect by April 8, 2026, the date on which advocates in Manitoba described Somali migration from the United States as having reached a critical point. They said the effect was already visible in arrivals to Winnipeg and movement through the Emerson area.
The legal and humanitarian pressures now intersect at the border. Somalis whose TPS has expired face the possibility of removal proceedings in the United States, while those seeking refuge in Canada confront an agreement that allows return to the United States if they are intercepted too soon after an irregular crossing.
For Somali families moving toward Manitoba, those rules are no longer distant policy text. They now define whether a lapsed TPS extension ends in removal from the United States, a dangerous trip through rural border country, or a chance to remain in Canada long enough to seek refuge.
