President Trump on Friday said he is ending deportation protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota.
The president wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was “terminating effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota.”
As of March 31, there are 705 Somali immigrants in the U.S. approved for TPS, according to Congress.gov.
Mr. Trump said, without providing evidence, that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State.”
He also accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, without proof, of overseeing a state that had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
“Send them back to where they came from,” he said. “It’s OVER!”
The president did not provide further details on the move.
TPS is a federal program that allows migrants from unstable countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Somalia’s TPS designation runs through March 17, 2026, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency that is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
CBS News has reached out to DHS and Walz for comment.
The Trump administration has also moved to end TPS protections for Afghan, Venezuelan and South Sudanese nationals. Those actions have faced significant legal challenges.
Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who represents Cold Spring, said in a written statement that she’s “glad” that Mr. Trump recognizes the “seriousness of the fraud problem” in the state.
“The unfortunate reality is that far too many individuals who were welcomed into this country have abused the trust and support that was extended to them, and Minnesota taxpayers have suffered billions of dollars in consequences as a result,” Demuth said, without providing evidence.
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