U.S. Ends TPS for Somalis, Sets March 17 Departure Deadline

Overview

• The Department of Homeland Security announced it will terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somalia and told affected Somalis to leave the United States by March 17, 2026, when current protections expire.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said conditions in Somalia have improved and asserted that “temporary means temporary,” framing the decision as putting Americans first.
• Official counts of those covered vary, with a Congressional Research Service report citing about 705 Somali TPS holders while other reporting references roughly 4,000 beneficiaries.
• The decision comes alongside stepped-up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, where ICE operations have led to about 2,000 detentions and protests followed the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent.
• The enforcement push has been linked in political messaging to a 2022 welfare-fraud case that produced 98 charges, including 85 people identified as of Somali origin, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.