President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account Friday that he is terminating temporary protected status for Somalis in Minnesota.
"Minnesota, under Governor Waltz [Tim Walz], 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," Trump wrote.
"Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing," Trump continued.
"Send them back to where they came from. It's OVER," Trump continued.
Trump's announcement comes after millions of dollars in stolen Minnesota welfare funds were allegedly diverted by members of the state's Somali community to an overseas terrorist group linked to al-Qaida, the City Journal reported Wednesday.
The alleged diversion occurred against the backdrop of what prosecutors have described as one of the largest welfare-fraud waves in state history, with total losses possibly reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars across multiple Department of Human Services programs.
Al-Shabab has killed more U.S. citizens than any other al-Qaida affiliate and, as of 2025, is al-Qaida's wealthiest component.
One of its operatives, Kenyan national Cholo Abdi Abdullah, was convicted in November 2024 of plotting a 9/11-style plane attack in Atlanta.
"This is a third-rail conversation, but the largest funder of Al-Shabab is the Minnesota taxpayer," an unnamed source, who previously contracted for law enforcement on counterterrorism work, told the City Journal.
The report did not specify a timeframe or identify specific programs that were the source of the funds. Much of the money was sent to clan-based money traders and then laundered to Al-Shabab, the City Journal reported.
Investigators said portions of the fraud relied on informal "hawala" networks — cash-based clan and family money-transfer systems common in East Africa — which made the funds difficult to trace once they left the U.S.
Six of the eight people federally charged in September with fraud linked to Walz's Housing Stabilization Services program are of Somali descent, a Department of Justice spokesperson told City Journal.
The state shuttered the program on Oct. 31 because of widespread fraud.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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