Trump Ends TPS for Somali Migrants in Minnesota, Citing ‘Massive Fraud and Security Risks’
President Donald Trump announced Friday night that he is immediately ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, saying the program has been abused and connected to a sprawling welfare fraud that has allegedly funneled money to an al-Qaeda-linked terror group.
Trump accused Democrat Gov. Tim Walz of presiding over a state “rife with corruption,” adding that Somali gangs are “terrorizing the people of Minnesota” while billions in taxpayer dollars have vanished.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“Minnesota, under Governor Waltz, 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!”
The announcement follows a series of federal investigations into how taxpayer-funded programs in Minnesota — especially Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services — were exploited by shell companies and bogus nonprofits claiming to serve seniors, addicts, and the disabled. In reality, many services were never provided.
Payments for the program exploded from $2.6 million to more than $104 million in just a few years. Prosecutors say fake providers billed the government while operating from rundown storefronts, often with politically connected middlemen shielding them from scrutiny.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said the scale of the fraud was unlike anything he had seen in his career.
“What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need. It feels never-ending,” Thompson said. “The depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away.”
Investigators have also revealed that some of the stolen money was routed through hawalas — informal clan-based money channels — and ultimately reached Al-Shabaab, the Islamic terror group allied with al-Qaeda. According to law-enforcement officials, “the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
Medicaid autism programs also exploded — from $3 million in 2018 to $399 million in 2023 — with Somali-run centers accused of inflating diagnoses and paying parents kickbacks to enroll children in unnecessary treatment programs.
City-Journal reported that the fraud has now become a sprawling network with international reach. Yet the issue has been largely ignored by national media outlets and Democrat officials, leaving ordinary Minnesotans to shoulder the cost while their money is funneled overseas.
Trump’s move marks one of the sharpest reversals yet of the Biden administration’s policies. Under Biden, TPS protections expanded, immigration enforcement weakened, and fraud monitoring was relaxed.
Now, the Trump administration is taking a hard turn in the opposite direction.
Minnesota officials have yet to respond to the president’s order — but federal agents say more indictments are coming.