US to end special protection for Somali migrants as lawsuits mount

The Trump administration is set to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for Somalis next week, a move that would strip about 1,100 people of the legal right to live and work in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says conditions in Somalia have improved enough to justify ending TPS. But four Somali nationals and two migrant-rights organisations have filed a lawsuit, calling the decision unlawful and challenging how it was reached.

In the United States, the legal advocacy group Muslim Advocates says ending protection for Somali migrants amounts to “racism disguised as immigration policy.” The plaintiffs argue the move is unconstitutional because, in their view, it is driven by prejudice rather than an objective assessment of the situation on the ground in Somalia, where fighting continues between government forces and Al-Shabaab militants.

The complaint also highlights a series of remarks by President Trump, who has repeatedly mocked Somalis and reportedly described them as “trash and low-IQ people.” In December 2025, he said he wanted to send them “back to where they came from.”

African Communities Together, the largest organisation defending African immigrants in the United States, is also pursuing separate legal challenges on behalf of Cameroonian, Ethiopian, and South Sudanese nationals — nearly 12,000 people in total — who risk losing their temporary protected status. For now, the policy change is on hold as the court cases move forward, a process that could take months or even years.

Meanwhile, U.S. immigration enforcement has been targeting Somali immigrants in Minnesota and Maine, provoking outrage and protests across the country.

At the same time, dozens of people have been charged in a series of overlapping social service fraud schemes in Minnesota, alleged to have cost taxpayers well over $200 million. Prosecutors have suggested the total could reach $9 billion, though state officials say that figure is exaggerated.

In nearly 100 related cases — one involving Covid-era food aid, another centred on housing, and a third on autism assistance — prosecutors say the vast majority of defendants are of Somali descent. Roughly 66 people have been convicted so far.