2:30In this Nov. 17, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump is depicted alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C.Win McNamee/Getty Images, FILE
On Tuesday, the Trump administration declared it will terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in March, effectively mandating the departure of as many as 2,400 individuals from the U.S., despite the president’s comments last month characterizing Somalia as "barely a country."
Somali nationals holding TPS will need to exit the country by March 17, as announced by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday, unless a court intervenes to halt the TPS cancellation.
"Temporary signifies temporary," Noem stated in a communication to ABC News. "Conditions in Somalia have advanced to a level that it no longer fulfills the legal criteria for Temporary Protected Status. Additionally, permitting Somali nationals to stay temporarily in the United States contradicts our national interests. We are prioritizing Americans."
In this Nov. 17, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump is shown with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.Win McNamee/Getty Images, FILE
This action follows President Donald Trump’s recent disparagement of Somali immigrants, labeling them as "garbage" and expressing his desire to keep them out of the United States during a Cabinet meeting last month.
"We consistently take individuals from Somalia, regions that are in turmoil, correct? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, plagued with crime. The only thing they excel at is attacking ships," Trump remarked as he addressed supporters in Pennsylvania last month.
On Tuesday, the president reiterated his criticisms of the Somali community and threatened to denaturalize any individual convicted of fraud.
"We’ve already removed many of them, but we’re continuing to expel them. We will also revoke the citizenship of any naturalized immigrant from Somalia, or any other location, who is found guilty of defrauding our citizens," he stated during an event in Detroit. "We’re going to get them out of here quickly."
The DHS referenced Tuesday’s announcement in a post on X, featuring a black-and-white image of Trump in the Oval Office, which alluded to the 2013 film "Captain Phillips," which dramatized the 2009 hostage crisis involving Somali pirates.
"I am the captain now," DHS remarked in the post.
TPS is allocated to nationals of specific countries who are unable to return safely due to circumstances such as famine, warfare, and environmental catastrophes. Immigrants with TPS status cannot be deported by DHS and are eligible for an Employment Authorization Document that permits them to work legally in the U.S.
Somalia has held TPS status since 1991, when civil war erupted and displaced hundreds of thousands. This status has been renewed multiple times over the past 34 years as the conflict persisted.
The State Department currently issues a travel advisory — effective since May of the previous year — urging individuals against traveling to Somalia due to "crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health risks, kidnapping, piracy" and other concerns.
Noem did not elaborate further on her assertions regarding improved conditions in Somalia, which seem to contradict the State Department’s advisory.
In this Oct. 8, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump listens to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Immigration attorneys who spoke with ABC News on Tuesday criticized the DHS’s assertion that conditions in
Sourse: abcnews.go.com