Arturo Chang
Wednesday April 8, 2026
Najib Warsame says Somali asylum claimants often spend months unable to work as they wait for their immigration claims to be processed. (Submitted by Najib Warsame)
An immigration crackdown south of the border is leading many Somalis to look for asylum in Manitoba, a Winnipeg refugee advocate says.
Najib Warsame said many of the people he’s recently helped have come to the province to avoid being persecuted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Some [faced] uncertainty and were under stress because they’re targeted because of their ethnicity, as they’re Somalis,” Warsame said. “They flee from possible deportation and persecution.”
The U.S. federal government has singled out Somalis in anti-immigration tirades, with Trump calling them “garbage” and saying he doesn’t want them in his country. The U.S. president has repeatedly accused the community of stealing billions from Minnesota, based on a fraud case in which dozens of Somali Americans were charged.
The state of Minnesota, which shares a border with Manitoba, is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S. at roughly 80,000 people. The state’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul were the epicentre of a months-long immigration crackdown, leading to mass detentions and protests over the winter.
Somalis “cannot work [like before]. They cannot stay there,” says Warsame, who works with a local refugee support organization. “So they’ve been moving … from the United States because of that reason.”
Somalia was set to lose its temporary protected status designation — which protects more than 1,000 Somali nationals from deportation in the U.S. and gives them work permits — on March 17. The termination was paused by a U.S. federal judge days before it was set to expire.
Asylum claims for some of the other nationalities whose temporary protected status has been threatened or cancelled under the Trump administration — including Venezuelans, Haitians and Nepalese nationals — went up year-over-year in 2025, according to Canadian data showing the top countries of citizenship for asylum applicants.
That’s even as the overall number of claims dropped by 35 per cent in 2025, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Abdikheir Ahmed, executive director of Resilia Community Wellness Centre, said based on community reports and the Somalis who’ve come from to the U.S. he’s spoken to, 150 people crossed the border between December and February.
More claimants as weather warms
Ahmed said there could be several dozens more that are not part of his count because they have not been contacted.
“We had a lot of people cross the border during the cold conditions,” he said, adding he’s heard several more are staying “underground” in the U.S. while they wait for the weather to improve.
“We expect an influx of many other refugee claimants from Somalia or any other country that’s … facing similar circumstances in the U.S. coming across the border … between now and throughout the summer.”
Ahmed, whose organization helps newcomers access mental health supports, said many Somalis — even those who are naturalized American citizens — are worried they or their family members may go to work or school one day and be “caught” and then barred from returning home.
“Somalis are resilient people,” he said. “Having said that, what Trump said and how Trump and his regime targeted the Somali population in Minnesota has really put an anxiety to a different level amongst the community members.”
In Winnipeg, the Salvation Army said that out of 73 refugees who stayed at its emergency shelter in the city between September and March 13, 41 came from the U.S.
The organization said it can’t provide further specifics about its clients, including their nationality.
Public relations officer Sara Djellal said in a statement an increase in demand driven by factors like housing affordability and economic pressures has put pressure on the shelter’s capacity.
Warsame said many recent arrivals — most of whom he said don’t have family or friends in Canada — face difficulties like overcrowded shelters and limited access to food.
“Despite the support, living conditions remain difficult,” Warsame said, adding they also can’t work while they wait for their immigration claims to be processed.
“Some individuals are waiting months just to get an appointment for their applications,” he said. “On top of that, they are dealing with stress, uncertainty, and challenges navigating the system.”
Canada closing doors for asylum seekers: lawyer
Winnipeg-based immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke said Canada has closed its doors to asylum claimants coming to the U.S.
The new border reform law given royal assent last month sets time limits on asylum claims, retroactively barring thousands who came to Canada more than a year prior from applying.
Bill C-12 also ends an exception to the Safe Third Country Agreement that allowed irregular border crossers to apply if they did so 14 days after arriving into Canada.
Some groups, including Amnesty International, have said the new law is an attack on refugee rights.
Clarke said he’s received notice several of his clients’ asylum claims may be deemed ineligible because of the new law — including some from Somalia.
“The United States right now, as far as I’m concerned, does not protect asylum seekers. I hear stories almost every day about the atrocities and human rights violations,” Clarke said.
“Under the changes, many of those individuals are not going to have their claim heard in Canada and I don’t know what they’re going to do. But I genuinely am afraid — I’m very concerned for those individuals, because they have no good options.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement the new laws strengthen the integrity of the asylum system and ensure it remains sustainable as pressures from migration increase across the world.
The government said safeguards remain firmly in place for people who face serious harm were they to be deported, with claimants whose applications were rejected still having access to a pre-removal risk assessment.
Clarke said the way the system is set up to work, that assessment is predominantly a “paper-based decision” ultimately up to government officials, unlike cases referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
There are “no rules of civil procedure. No rules of evidence,” he said. “It will be a decision made by an IRCC officer.”