CLARKSTON, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this week that it will end Temporary Protection Status for Somalia, which will require Somali nationals to leave the U.S. by mid-March.
Clarkston in DeKalb County is home to hundreds of Somali immigrants, and they told Channel 2’s Candace McCowan they worry they’ll start seeing more ICE agents in the coming weeks.
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Omar Shekey with the Somali American Community Center says it’s an anxious time.
“It’s sad because most of the people I know have [Temporary Protection Status] have been here years and years. They have kids who’ve graduated from college, they have homes,” Shekey said.
The ending of TPS for Somalia comes during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis where many Somalis live, and after a report claimed that Somali-run childcare centers were fraudulently taking money.
In Clarkston, one Somali-American citizen told McCowan that she saw ICE there last week.
“I think we are going to see ICE more,” she said.
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“We are getting rid of a lot of people that are criminals that shouldn’t be in our country. They came in through Biden’s open borders,” President Donald Trump said.
But Shekey says federal agents are not their only fear.
“In this environment, we are very fearful, not just the law, but people outside the law, vigilante people, people who might harass us,” he said.
Unless the court pauses the action, Somali migrants with TPS must leave the country by March 17.
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