President Trump intends to strip hundreds of Somalis living in the United States of the protected status they have had for decades under a program for immigrants from countries in crisis.
Mr. Trump specifically targeted “Somalis in Minnesota” in a social media post on Friday, writing that he was terminating their eligibility for the Temporary Protected Status program. More Somalis live in Minnesota than in any other state.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in Minneapolis on Sunday that her office would evaluate whether to end protection for Somalis under the program. Doing so would require giving 60 days’ notice. Ms. Noem suggested that, if the status was revoked, the change would apply to Somali immigrants across the country, and not just in Minnesota.
Temporary Protected Status allows people from countries in turmoil because of a civil war, natural disaster or other crisis to live and work in the United States. Technically, the status is temporary, and meant to last about 18 months unless it is renewed — but it has often been renewed, and for several groups including the Somalis, it had become all but permanent.
Protected status was first granted to Somalis in 1991, when the country was torn apart by civil war and its national government collapsed. The designation has been extended many times since, including under the prior Trump administration. The most recent renewal was to last until mid-March.
Though there are an estimated 42,500, foreign-born Somalis living in Minnesota, only a small number of them are covered by the Temporary Protected Status program.
As of March, there were 705 Somalis in the whole United States who were covered by the status, according to the Congressional Research Service. Counting people from other covered countries as well, Minnesota has about 8,460 people with the protected status.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote on Friday that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people” of Minnesota, and said that the state was a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.” Several Somali immigrants in Minnesota have been convicted in fraud schemes in recent years, including embezzlement of government funds from food-aid programs for hungry children.
Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on social media that Mr. Trump had chosen to “broadly target an entire community.” Mr. Walz suggested that the president’s move was an attempt to distract attention from other issues in the administration.
Somalia is home to about 18 million people and is part of the Horn of Africa on the continent’s eastern side. The country has been racked by problems including violence, drought and poverty for decades. Recently, American aid groups have had to limit their work in the country because Mr. Trump’ dismantled the Agency for International Development.
About 73 percent of Somali immigrants in the U.S. are naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the Census Bureau.
Mr. Trump has moved to end T.P.S. protection for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from other countries, including Venezuela, Honduras, Afghanistan and, earlier this month, South Sudan.
Under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Homeland Security Department allowed Somalis who had arrived in the U.S. in recent years to apply for the protection. The agency estimated last year that as many as 4,300 people could become eligible under that policy.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports for The Times on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice.
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