President Trump is following through on a promise he made late last year to end deportation protections for some Somali immigrants in the country.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it's revoking the Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of Somali nationals. They are set to lose their legal status on March 17.

A DHS official says roughly 2,500 Somali immigrants are expected to be affected.

By contrast, a 2023 fact sheet from the Immigrant Law Center shows only around 430 Somalis are in Minnesota under that protection.

Between that announcement and the targeted ICE enforcement, many Somali Minnesotans are choosing to stay home. 

It's lunchtime at Sanag Restaurant on Lake Street in Minneapolis. On the menu: lamb, rice and Somali spaghetti. But a quick look around shows there's more food than people.

David Ellis is very intentionally eating at Sanag for the first time.

"I got the camel, so I actually never tried camel," Ellis said. "I am just trying to get out and support the Somali community."

A community that is admittedly scared. WCCO spoke with a Somali Minnesotan at the restaurant who did not want to show his face on camera.

"Now being East African is a target," the man said.

His fears are corroborated by videos showing encounters involving federal agents on Minnesota streets, and the words of President Trump.

"Every one of them should be forced to leave this country," Trump said last month.

Mr. Trump has made several inflammatory statements amid the billion-dollar fraud case involving mostly Somali Americans.

"Every community have bad apples, but then the people that's making the biggest noise are the people who are the bad apples," the man said. "There's going be a lot of innocent people that's going to be collateral."

And as ICE focuses on Somali neighborhoods, neighbors are staying home.

"The businesses are just empty, as you can see here," the man said. "This place used to be so busy that you can't even find a seat."

He says Uber and Lyft drivers, many who are from East Africa, are choosing not to work.

"Whether they're citizens, they're green card holders, everyone is scared," he said. "Whether they were born here, they all are just scared."

Despite it all, he says he still loves the United States of America.

"I believe that, you know, there is always gonna be a wrong moment, but I am always optimistic in this nation," the man said.

He says if you want to support the Somali community, go eat in the restaurants and shop in the stores.