The Trump administration is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants, making it easier to deport thousands of people.
“Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement,” US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News.
TPS prevents US officials from deporting immigrants to countries deemed unsafe. Starting March 17, around 2,500 Somalis will lose their work authorisations and legal status, making them eligible for deportation.
President Donald Trump has made it known he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, and has launched a major effort in Minneapolis to detain and deport people in the country illegally.
Noem last month announced a surge of immigration officers in Minnesota, home to a large Somali diaspora community and where a sprawling federal fraud investigation found problems in the state’s childcare industry, which the administration has linked to Somali immigrants.
Previous attempts to end TPS for other nations including Haiti have faced legal challenges.
