Trump administration ends protections for Myanmar refugees, affecting Minnesota's Karen residents

Christopher Magan, Star Tribune on Nov 24, 2025

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Members of Minnesota’s Karen community are at risk of being sent back to Myanmar after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday it was ending temporary asylum protections for the country’s citizens.

The department, under the direction of President Donald Trump, announced it was terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 4,000 people in the U.S. from Myanmar, formerly Burma, effective Jan 26.

Minnesota has the nation’s largest Karen population, indigenous people who were forced from their homeland in Myanmar, with about 20,000 living mostly in Ramsey County. It was not immediately clear Monday how many have TPS.

“It means some people can be sent back to where there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis,” said Alice Buckner, executive director of the Karen Organization of Minnesota.

TPS allows people fleeing conflict and natural disasters to live and work in the U.S. While technically temporary, some groups have had the status for decades.

In 2021, the protective status was granted to people fleeing a military coup and civil war in Myanmar. The country is now ruled by a military dictatorship with a history of violence against opponents.

Monday’s announcement comes just days after Trump said his administration would revoke TPS for Somalis in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security has already ended protections for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, Sudan and Venezuela, making immigrants eligible for detention and deportation.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement it was safe for citizens to return to Myanmar.

“Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability,” Noem’s statement said, “including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful ceasefire agreements, and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation.”

TPS status for Myanmar was scheduled to expire Nov. 25 after several extensions, but immigration advocates expected it to be continued.

“You can’t blame people for wanting to stay, when there is bloodshed and genocide” in their home country, Buckner said, noting there has been fighting in Myanmar since it gained independence in 1948. “It’s the world’s longest ongoing human conflict.”

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