Congress created Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to briefly assist those in need. Shakespeare warned, “Ingratitude is monstrous; and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a monster of the multitude.” In the case of TPS, “multitude” is correct. As of January 2025, approximately 1.4 million foreign nationals in the United States were shielded from removal under the program. 

The Trump administration decided to terminate TPS for several countries, with Somalia as the most recent. That choice is the right step in a long-overdue course correction for an immigration program that previous administrations exploited far past its statutory purpose. 

Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, following political turmoil and the outbreak of civil war. At the time, granting temporary protection to Somali nationals already present in the United States was an act of kindness. 

Over three decades later, Somalis remained dependent on the charity extended to them by the United States and distorted the TPS program beyond recognition from its original legislative intent.  

Temporary Protected Status is governed by Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1254a. According to federal law, TPS may be granted only when extraordinary and temporary conditions prevent safe return to a designated country. It applies only to individuals physically present in the United States at the time of designation. Foreigners who arrive after the fact are ineligible.  

TPS is not an open-ended invitation or a pathway to citizenship.  

Yet over time, administrations treated TPS as anything but temporary. Excluding the first Trump administration, nearly every president extended or unlawfully redesignated........

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