President Donald Trump announced a major move against illegal activity on Friday, declaring an end to deportation protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota. The decision directly targets a state facing severe scrutiny over allegations of widespread fraud.
Writing on Truth Social, the President said he was “terminating effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota.” He said that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State.”
Trump directly blamed the state's Democratic leadership for the chaos. He accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of overseeing a state that had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
The President ended his post with a definitive, "Send them back to where they came from. It's OVER!" This fulfilled a major promise to restore law and order on immigration.
Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth immediately supported the President's move. She said she was “glad” Mr. Trump recognizes the “seriousness of the fraud problem” in the state.
Demuth said that “far too many individuals who were welcomed into this country have abused the trust and support that was extended to them.” She added that “Minnesota taxpayers have suffered billions of dollars in consequences as a result” of that abuse.
Walz, predictably, accused the President of playing politics. Walz said in a social media post on X, “It's not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject.”
The move applies to Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a federal program that shields certain migrants from deportation. Only about 705 Somali immigrants across the entire U.S. are approved for the TPS program, which currently runs through March 2026.
Despite the small number affected, the announcement drew fire from liberal groups. Jaylani Hussein of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the decision a “political attack” driven by “hateful rhetoric.”
The Trump administration has been steadily ending similar TPS protections for migrants from several other nations. These actions align with the administration's commitment to strict enforcement of immigration laws and protecting U.S. taxpayers from fraud and abuse.