Over the years, Americans have welcomed newcomers, by creating systems to protect people fleeing danger, oppression or simply seeking a better life. Immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are all people who may be unable to return safely to their home countries due to war, instability or targeted persecution. The administration is threatening these protections, leaving thousands of individuals vulnerable. 

TPS grants individuals the ability to lawfully live and work in the United States, protecting them from deportation. As of February 2026, citizens from the following countries are considered unsafe to return to their home countries and are therefore eligible for Temporary Protected Status: Burma (Myanmar), El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.  

However, despite unsafe conditions in all of these countries, the administration is attempting to strip these protections for vulnerable people looking for safety in the US, leaving them subject to deportation. 

The latest target country is Somalia. The Trump Administration announced that TPS would be stripped from Somalis in the U.S. beginning March 17, 2026, on the grounds that Somalia "no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status”. Even though TPS has not yet expired for Somalis, we are already seeing them targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) actions. We have seen these agencies overstep and kidnap people based on skin color or accent rather than law, and this is the same behavior being used against Somalis now.  

Not only are Somalis with TPS being detained, but those Somalis with refugee status are also being detained. This is explicitly illegal as holding refugee status protects a person from deportation as long as they have not committed a crime.  

This continuation of treating God’s children with indignity is unacceptable. We are called on to love our neighbors and that is what we will continue to do. Let the President know today that Somalis and all people with TPS and refugee status must be welcomed, respected and treated with dignity.