Letter to the Hon. Mike Pompeo, Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of State, and the Hon. Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security - Reps. Omar, Jayapal, Clarke, and Smith Lead Letter Calling for Extension and Redesignation of TPS for Somali-Americans

Letter

Dear Acting Secretary Wolf and Secretary Pompeo:

We write to urge you to re-designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia. While Somalia has seen tremendous progress in the last decade, it is still recovering from almost 30 years of civil conflict. Returning Somali TPS holders to Somalia would put their lives at risk.

The security situation in Somalia remains extremely fraught, with Al-Shabaab continuing to hold large swaths of territory and carrying out attacks against civilians in Mogadishu and other population centers.

Many TPS holders have escaped Al-Shabaab and would return to Somalia with targets on their backs. Forcibly returning them is tantamount to a death sentence. In fact, several Somali deportees have been murdered by Al-Shabaab. Somalis belonging to marginalized communities, such as ethnic minorities, women, and girls are at even more risk.

In addition to the violence in Somalia, there is a pressing humanitarian crisis impacting millions of Somalis. Massive flooding is causing displacement, loss of agriculture and livestock, and lack of clean water. Of the 4.2 million Somalis in need of aid in 2019, 1.5 million face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. Roughly 2.6 million are internally displaced. Some 320,000 people were displaced by conflict in 2018--the highest level of conflict-related displacement in four years. By UN estimates, 3 million children are not in school, and one in seven children dies before their fifth birthday.

Many TPS holders are not only supporting their American-born families but also their families in Somalia. Somalis in the United States send $215 million in remittances each year to Somalia to support their families' basic needs. Somali TPS holders are often their families' only lifeline. If they were to be deported, the effects would be devastating not only on their own communities here in the United States, but on Somalia as well.

Terminating TPS for Somalia would also have devastating consequences for the American-born children of Somali TPS holders. Parents would be forced to decide either to leave their kids behind or take them back to Somalia to face terrible conditions.

We acknowledge and commend the Somali Central Government for its continuous efforts to improve the economic, political, and security situation in Somalia. It is clear, however, that the conditions are not favorable to the return of TPS holders. In some cases, the removal of Somali TPS-holders would be life-threatening. For this reason, we urge you to re-designate Temporary Protected Status for Somalia.

We look forward to your prompt response.