Attorney General Clark Defends Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants from Somalia

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) unlawful and baseless attempt to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Somali immigrants. The TPS program is a crucial humanitarian lifeline that Congress established in the 1990 to protect immigrants from being returned to countries that have been deemed unsafe, allowing them to work and build a life in the United States. Today's amicus brief, filed in African Communities Together v. Noem, highlights the humanitarian and economic harm that would result from ending TPS protections for Somali immigrants and urges the court to postpone the revocation.

In November 2025, President Trump posted on social media that he was "hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota..." Since then, President Trump has repeatedly launched racist attacks against Somali immigrants, calling them "garbage" and " stupid people" with "low IQs" "from a crooked country, disgusting country, one of the worst countries in the world. " In January 2026, Kristi Noem, then the Secretary of Homeland Security, announced she was terminating Somalia's TPS designation in part because "permitting Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States would be contrary to the national interest of the United States." As of January 2026, there are 2,471 Somali nationals in the United States under TPS with another 1,383 with pending applications .

Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991 by Acting Attorney General William Barr due to "extraordinary and temporary conditions." Civil war has raged in Somalia for the ensuing 35 years, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, children being forced into combat, extrajudicial killings, sexual and gender-based violence, and other human rights abuses. Given the ongoing violence and suffering, Somalia's TPS designation has continually been in place since 1991.

The attorneys general warn that Somali TPS holders across their states, and their states themselves, will be profoundly harmed if the termination of their TPS status is not postponed. In purporting to terminate Somalia's TPS designation, Secretary Noem did not claim Somalia as a whole was safe but that "there are areas within Somalia where Somali nationals may live in safety." Secretary Noem's colleagues at the State Department do not share her opinion though. The State Department has issued its highest travel advisory for Somalia (Level 4: Do Not Travel), advising that Americans should not travel to Somalia "due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health, kidnapping, piracy, and lack of availability of routine consular services," noting "violent crime is common throughout Somalia, including kidnapping and murder," "illegal roadblocks are widespread," and "terrorists continue to plot kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks" and "may attack with little or no warning."

The coalition notes that revoking Somalia's TPS designation would present current TPS holders, particularly those with U.S. citizen children, with an agonizing choice:

• return to Somalia alone, leaving their children behind;
• taking their U.S. citizen children with them to a dangerous country that the children do not know; or
• staying in the United States without authorization and living with significant fear and uncertainty, knowing they cannot work legally and could be forcibly removed to Somalia at any time.

The attorneys general also argue in their brief that revoking Somalia's TPS designation would harm their economies and workforces.

The attorneys general are urging the court to postpone this attempted TPS revocation to prevent their states and residents of those states from suffering irreparable harm.

Joining Attorney General Clark in filing this brief are the attorneys general of California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

A copy of the brief is available by request.

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171