Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday her agency is revoking Temporary Protected Status from Somali migrants, another move by the Trump administration to escalate its clash with Minnesota, home to the nation’s largest Somali population.
The news comes as Trump administration officials continue to lend credence to a YouTube video, published by internet creator Nick Shirley, alleging with little evidence that Somali migrants in Minnesota are committing fraud through child care centers. State officials have said the centers were operating normally.
The administration has cited the fraud claims as part of the justification for sending thousands of federal officers into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in an immigration enforcement surge.
Temporary Protected Status was established by Congress in 1990. It does not grant permanent residency in the U.S. but does shield those who have it from deportation and allows them to work and travel.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services grants the status to groups of people who cannot return to their countries safely due to instability, such as an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster or an epidemic.
The U.S. has designated Somalis eligible for the status since 1991 because of an ongoing civil war between government forces, militia fighters, African Union troops and others against the paramilitary group al-Shabaab, as well as widespread food insecurity and hunger. Last May, the U.S. State Department flagged Somalia as “Level 4,” its highest advisory level, urging Americans not to travel there.
Nevertheless, Noem said Tuesday, “Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who is of Somali heritage, previously said in December that “ending TPS would put lives at risk and tear apart families who have lived, worked, and contributed to our communities for decades.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.