Some Somalis have filed a lawsuit challenging US President Donald Trump's administration over its plans to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 1,000 Somali immigrants, which could pave the way for their deportation.
Temporary Protected Status, TPS, is a special US government programme that allows migrants facing risks of conflicts, natural disasters or persecution in their home countries to move to the US, having the right to live and work there with no risk of deportation.
Announcing the decision to terminate such status for Somalis, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in January that Somalia's conditions had improved, suggesting that the Somalis could go back home.
However, four Somalis and two advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court on Monday, 9 March, challenging the decision, arguing that the move was "procedurally flawed" and driven by a "discriminatory, predetermined" agenda.
They cite a series of statements President Trump made, such as describing Somalis as "garbage" and "low IQ people" who "contribute nothing."
Widely condemned comments
The Trump comments had been widely condemned within and outside the US.
The plaintiffs, who include the groups African Communities Together and Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, said the Trump administration's decision is due to "unconstitutional bias" against non-White immigrants.
The US Department of Homeland Security has not yet publicly commented on the court case. However, it previously said that the TPS was "never intended to be a de facto amnesty programme."
The Trump administration has moved to end the programme for thousands of people from several countries, including Ethiopia, South Sudan, Cameroon and Haiti.
The TPS was first approved for Somalia in 1991 due to the country's civil war, with its latest extension being in 2024.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, at least 1,082 Somalis currently hold TPS, and 1,383 more have pending applications.
Over 260,000 people of Somali descent live in the US, with the majority now citizens residing in Minnesota, according to a 2024 survey by the US Census Bureau.
Somali Americans are increasingly visible in politics, with Democrat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar being a prominent critic of the Republican Trump administration, which has intensified immigration crackdown.
