President Donald Trump announced Friday night on Truth Social that he is “terminating, effective immediately” Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota, alleging that Somali gangs are terrorizing residents and that the state has become a hub of fraudulent money laundering. The move, affecting a relatively small number of people, comes amid broader efforts by his administration to roll back immigration protections and has drawn sharp criticism from civil-rights and Somali community advocates, who call it discriminatory and Islamophobic.
On November 21, 2025, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota, saying it would take effect "immediately." In the post, Trump wrote: "Minnesota, under Governor Walz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It's OVER!" NPR and other outlets, including CBS News and Newsmax, have reported the same language from the post.
Minnesota hosts the nation’s largest Somali community, many of whose members fled the country’s long civil war and were drawn to the state’s comparatively welcoming social programs, according to NPR and The Guardian.
However, relatively few Somalis nationwide are covered by TPS. A report prepared for Congress in August put the total number of Somali TPS holders at 705 across the United States, a figure cited by NPR, NBC-affiliated outlets, and CBS News. Congress created the TPS program in 1990 to protect nationals of countries facing natural disasters, civil conflict, or other dangerous conditions from being deported, with designations made by the Homeland Security secretary in renewable 18‑month increments.
Trump’s announcement comes as he has repeatedly pledged to deport millions of people and to roll back immigration protections expanded under President Joe Biden. NPR reports that the Trump administration has already moved to end TPS for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who received protections under Biden, and to limit protections for migrants from Cuba and Syria, among other countries.
In his post and in subsequent commentary from allies, Trump linked his move on TPS to allegations of widespread welfare and public‑benefits fraud in Minnesota. Conservative outlets, including City Journal and right‑leaning news sites, have reported on multimillion‑dollar fraud schemes involving Minnesota social‑service programs and alleged that some of the money was diverted through informal hawala networks and may have reached the Somalia‑based militant group al‑Shabab. But mainstream news reports and federal authorities have not confirmed that billions of dollars were siphoned off or that Minnesota taxpayers are a primary funder of al‑Shabab. Those broader claims remain unproven.
Specific figures cited in some conservative commentary about Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program and autism‑related Medicaid services — such as growth from a few million dollars to more than $100 million or nearly $400 million in spending — are not included in the NPR or Daily Wire coverage of Trump’s TPS announcement and could not be independently verified in that context. Likewise, the quote attributed to a law‑enforcement source that "the largest funder of Al‑Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer" does not appear in the NPR reporting or in the Daily Wire piece provided and is not substantiated in other major‑outlet coverage of Trump’s move. For those reasons, those specific fraud figures and that quotation are omitted here.
The Daily Wire notes that Trump’s action follows right‑wing media focus on alleged fraud schemes tied to some Somali‑run or Somali‑linked entities, and reports that a City Journal article claimed that stolen welfare funds were funneled overseas, potentially benefiting al‑Shabab. But those reports rely heavily on anonymous or limited sources and have not been fully corroborated by federal law‑enforcement agencies in the coverage reviewed.
Trump’s announcement has sparked intense backlash in Minnesota and nationally. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American‑Islamic Relations (CAIR‑MN) condemned the move. In a statement reported by NPR and CBS News, Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said, "This is not just a bureaucratic change; it is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric." CAIR‑MN warned that the decision "will tear families apart" and deepen hostility toward Somali Americans and Muslims.
Minnesota officials, including Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, have criticized Trump’s rhetoric and questioned the legality of attempting to cancel TPS in this way, noting that the designation for Somalia had been extended under the Biden administration through March 2026. Legal experts quoted by national outlets say any attempt to end the designation "immediately" is likely to face court challenges, given the statutory and regulatory framework governing TPS.
Immigration advocates argue that, even though only about 705 Somalis nationwide hold TPS, the announcement carries significant symbolic weight for Minnesota’s Somali community and could heighten fears, confusion, and harassment. Supporters of the move, including some Republican officials in Minnesota, say they are pleased Trump is drawing attention to concerns about fraud in the state’s social‑services programs, though they have not presented comprehensive public evidence tying such fraud to TPS holders in particular.
Media coverage of Trump’s decision has varied in emphasis. NPR and other mainstream outlets have focused on the small number of people directly affected, the legal uncertainties surrounding an "immediate" termination, and the broader implications for immigration policy and civil rights. Conservative outlets such as The Daily Wire have highlighted alleged links between Minnesota social‑services fraud and overseas extremist groups. Across the spectrum, however, reporting agrees that Trump has publicly framed the TPS decision around claims of Somali gang violence and large‑scale financial fraud in Minnesota, without providing corroborating evidence.
