The Trump administration announced that thousands of Somali nationals will be required to leave the U.S. in March after officials end temporary protected status for them.
The Department of Homeland Security said on its X account Tuesday, “Our message is clear. Go back to your own country or we’ll send you back ourselves.”
“Temporary means temporary. Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first.”
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Temporary protected status allows foreign nationals to stay in the U.S. when temporary conditions in their home nation make living conditions difficult. Examples include instances of violence or natural disasters. Those given temporary protected status are not removable from the U.S. and can obtain a work permit.
Temporary protected status does not serve as a gateway toward permanent resident status, but it does not stop recipients from seeking legal status in the U.S.
The Trump administration has also, in recent months, ended temporary protected status for nationals of Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Burma, and South Sudan.
Haitians under temporary protected status are set to have their status end next month.
According to U.S. Census data, there are nearly a quarter-million people in the U.S. of Somali descent, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. Many Somali-Americans came to the U.S. after the start of Somalia’s ongoing civil war, which started in the 90s.
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About 2,500 Somalis are living under temporary protected status in the U.S. currently, Fox News reported.
The decision to end temporary protected status comes as the Trump administration has sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, which has the largest concentration of Somalis in the U.S.
