The Trump administration is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants, making it easier to deport thousands of people from the US.”Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.TPS prevents US officials from deporting immigrants to countries deemed unsafe. Starting March 17, around 2,500 Somalis will lose their work authorisations and legal status, making them eligible for deportation.President Donald Trump has made it known he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, and has launched a major effort in Minneapolis to detain and deport people in the country illegally.”Temporary means temporary,” Noem said in a statement to the BBC. “Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first.”Congress established TPS in 1990 to give refuge to people from countries that experienced war or environmental disasters. Immigrants with TPS authorisation are typically allowed to live and work legally in the US.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the BBC that there are 2,471 Somali nationals with TPS, and 1,383 people with pending applications. DHS responded to an online post about the announcement that the protective status were ending for those people with a Trump portrait and the caption: “I am the captain now.”Noem last month announced a surge of immigration officers in Minnesota, home to a large Somali diaspora community and where a sprawling federal fraud investigation found problems in the state’s childcare industry, which the administration has linked to Somali immigrants.Jonathan Ross, an immigration enforcement agent, fatally shot US citizen Renee Good in her car last week during the Minneapolis operation sparking large protests locally and nationally. The Tr …
