Trump Pledges Immediate End to TPS for Minnesota Somalis

(MINNESOTA) President Donald Trump’s pledge to “immediately” end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Program for Somali immigrants living in Minnesota, announced in a Truth Social post on November 22, 2025, has sent shockwaves through Somali neighborhoods in the Twin Cities and beyond. Families were left unsure whether a late-night message on social media can upend years of lawful presence.

In the post, Trump declared that he was “terminating effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Program for Somalis in Minnesota,” accusing Somali residents of “fraudulent money laundering activity” and claiming that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State.” He alleged that “billions of dollars are missing” and said Somalis covered by TPS should be sent back to Somalia — a country the U.S. itself has long deemed too unstable for safe return. The message targeted Somalis in Minnesota specifically, even though TPS is a federal program that applies to eligible nationals across the United States, not to one state alone.

Current designation and scope

The announcement came even though the current TPS designation for Somalia does not expire until March 2026. According to Department of Homeland Security figures cited by advocates:

• About 705 Somali nationals nationwide were protected by TPS as of March 2025.
• Roughly 430 of them live in Minnesota.

For those people, Trump’s Truth Social post landed like an eviction notice, even though immigration lawyers quickly stressed that a social media message does not, by itself, change federal law or formal Department of Homeland Security policy.

Many Somalis in Minnesota have lived in the United States for decades, raising U.S. citizen children, buying homes, and building businesses on the stability offered by their work authorization and protection from deportation. Now they are watching their phones, waiting to see whether federal agencies will try to act on a post that referred to them in sweeping terms and blamed them for high-profile fraud and crime investigations.

Community reaction and political responses

Community leaders moved quickly to calm panic while denouncing the language of the post.

• Jaylani Hussein, head of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called Trump’s promise to end protections a “political attack on the Somali and Muslim community” and urged him to reverse course. He said families were already calling hotlines asking whether they should stop going to work or avoid public places.
• Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali American Democrat representing Minneapolis, emphasized that most Somalis in America are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who do not hold TPS. She argued that, in practical terms, the pledge might affect only a limited number of people but could still fuel hate and suspicion against Somalis statewide.
• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pushed back as well, saying it was sadly predictable that Trump would “broadly target an entire community” and accuse them of crime as a way to “change the subject.” Walz noted that Minnesota is regarded as one of the safest states in the country and said the post falsely linked public safety concerns to a small and already vetted population.

Legal constraints and expert analysis

Immigration lawyers and policy advocates quickly questioned whether the president has the power to do what he claimed.

• TPS is created and managed by the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
• Eligibility is tied to a person’s nationality, not the state where they live.
• When DHS designates a country like Somalia for TPS because of civil war or other extreme conditions, that protection applies nationwide to all qualifying Somali nationals — whether they live in Minnesota, Ohio, or any other state.

Legal experts, including Heidi Altman of the National Immigrant Justice Center, said there is no legal mechanism for a president to cancel TPS only for Somalis in Minnesota while leaving the same group protected elsewhere. Any change must go through formal DHS procedures and would have to cover all Somali TPS holders across the United States.

Previous attempts by the Trump administration to end TPS designations for other nationalities faced waves of lawsuits. Advocates say a similar legal response would almost certainly follow if the federal government tried to carry out the threat in this case.

Connection to fraud investigations and community impact

The Truth Social post tied the promised end of TPS to what Trump called “fraudulent money laundering activity” and missing “billions of dollars,” an apparent reference to the ongoing Feeding Our Future fraud prosecutions. Those cases involve misuse of federal child nutrition funds and have included some defendants of Somali origin.

State officials and community advocates stress:

• The vast majority of Somali Minnesotans are law‑abiding residents who had nothing to do with the scheme.
• Linking a nationwide humanitarian program like TPS to a state-level fraud scandal alarms many in the community, who fear they are being treated as collectively guilty.

Concerns expressed in the community include:

• Parents worry that a sudden loss of status could split mixed‑status families if some members lack protection from deportation.
• Others feel singled out in daily life and are concerned that heated political rhetoric will spill into harassment at school, work, or places of worship — even if their own immigration status is not directly tied to TPS.

What lawyers and advocates recommend now

Confusion over what comes next has pushed lawyers and advocates to point people back to official information rather than social media posts. Key guidance being offered:

• Refer to the Department of Homeland Security’s official resources. The DHS TPS page for Somalia on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website still lists the country’s designation as valid until March 2026 and explains eligibility rules and work authorization details for Somali TPS holders.
• Keep documents current and maintain any scheduled immigration appointments.
• Watch for formal notices from DHS rather than campaign statements on social platforms.
• Legal groups advise that public promises to end TPS often trigger complex court fights that can drag on for years, leaving families in a painful state of limbo.

If the federal government attempted to terminate TPS only for Somalis in Minnesota, civil rights lawyers say it would raise serious questions about equal treatment under federal law and the use of collective blame as an immigration tool.

Quick facts summary

Final note

For now, the legal status of Somali TPS holders remains governed by formal DHS policy and federal law. Community leaders, legal advocates, and officials urge affected individuals to follow official channels and to remain cautious about treating social media posts as definitive changes in legal status.