Members of Minnesota’s Karen community are reporting an increase in unannounced visits from federal immigration officials after President Donald Trump’s administration moved to end temporary protected status for their home country.
Mental health professionals serving the local Karen community told Sahan Journal the decision is sparking fear and anxiety in a community that has lived through generations of displacement and violence.
“The TPS [temporary protected status] ending not only affects people who have TPS, but also the larger refugee and immigrant community because it creates a lot of fear,” said June Nin Way, a therapist with the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul.
Roughly 1,200 Minnesota residents from Myanmar are at risk of deportation from the United States after U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced plans on Nov. 26 to end temporary protected status for people from Myanmar, which is currently ruled by a military junta. The TPS protects roughly 4,000 people who immigrated to the United States from the Asian country, and is set to expire on Jan. 26.
Minnesota is home to about 22,000 people from Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. The community largely arrived in the mid 2000s through the early 2010s, as thousands fled the country during a civil war. A 2021 military coup installed a ruling junta in Myanmar, and fighting continues in the country. The U.S. government began offering TPS to people from Myanmar after the 2021 coup.
Most people from Myanmar in Minnesota are from the Karen ethnic group, a minority population in Myanmar who could face violence and persecution in their home country.
Anxiety and fear persist
The Karen community is on edge amidst amplified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement in the Twin Cities, even though many Karen people Minnesota came as refugees and are U.S. citizens or have another legal status, said Way and fellow therapist Eh Ta Lar.
“There is a lot of fear, there’s a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Lar, who works with students at Humboldt High School in St. Paul. “It’s very sad to see.”
The Trump administration says conditions are improving in Myanmar, which the government refers to as Burma, and that it’s time to end the TPS program.
“Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, 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,” Noem said in a written statement last month.
But other parts of the federal government appear to disagree. The U.S. State Department has issued a do not travel advisory to Myanmar, citing armed conflict, potential for civil unrest, danger from land mines, arbitrary arrests and poor health infrastructure. The nation also suffered a massive, 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March.
The situation in Myanmar could be particularly challenging for the Karen people. The Karen account for less than seven percent of Myanmar’s population, and have a culture that’s unique from other ethnic groups in the country, Way said. The Karen often served as military support for the British colonial government, and have since been involved in separatist movements.
“We’re not integrated with other communities,” said Way, who is Karen and Burmese and speaks both languages.
Those in Minnesota who are at risk of deportation are wondering if they could be imprisoned if they return to their home country, Way said.
Community reports unannounced visits
The Wilder Foundation, one of the only organizations in the metro with Karen and Burmese speaking staff, has heard from many clients about surprise visits from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials.
Way said one of her clients was traumatized by an unexpected visit from USCIS. The client appeared triggered in recounting the visit, Way said, and was fearful about being taken from her home, an experience that reminds people of life in a refugee camp.
The recent developments can be especially bewildering because many recent arrivals to Minnesota don’t speak English well, and Karen and Burmese are niche languages that lack easy translation resources. People are often unable to read documents explaining their rights or what the government is seeking from them.
“It can be very confusing,” Way said.
Immigration lawyers representing families who have been visited by immigration officials are not being notified in advance of the visits, said Kyle Lipinski, a clinical supervisor for the Wilder Foundation.
Lar moved to Minnesota with his family in 2011. He said many in the Karen community are conditioned to plan for the worst, and that recent federal immigration tactics have people nervous. His mother, who is a U.S. citizen, won’t open her door without checking her doorbell camera first, he said.
“It is traumatizing considering the situation that we’re in right now with deportation and immigration enforcement,” Lar said of “Operation Metro Surge,” an immigration enforcement effort that began the first week of December focused on Somali immigrants but has also swept up many Latino and Asian residents.
USCIS officials issued a written statement to Sahan Journal, but did not directly respond to questions about unannounced visits to Myanmar nationals in Minnesota.
“Every day, USCIS immigration officers across the country contact applicants and beneficiaries at their residences and places of work or study to verify eligibility for an immigration benefit, review compliance with visa terms, and investigate potential fraud,” the agency said in a written statement to Sahan Journal.
A legal challenge
A group of Myanmar nationals brought a lawsuit against Homeland Security on Dec. 22 challenging the termination of TPS. The case is being led by the Asian American Legal Defense Fund, which calls the government’s actions unlawful. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois, says the decision ignores the dire situation in Myanmar and was made out of political desire to broadly end TPS in the United States. An initial hearing has not been set in the case.
Dinesh McCoy, an attorney for the Asian American Legal Defense Fund working on the case, told Sahan Journal the government hasn’t followed a proper process to terminate TPS for Myanmar.
Their lawsuit hopes to both block the termination entirely, and to secure some form of emergency relief that will buy time for those currently on TPS. Similar cases for countries like Syria have successfully paused the administration’s attempts to end TPS status while court proceedings continue.
“Everyone needs that assurance before that date,” McCoy said of the Jan. 26 deadline for ending TPS for Myanmar.
The Trump administration has moved to end TPS from 11 countries since he took office in January, a move many legal scholars say is seeking to end the program outright. That includes ending TPS for nations that are largely considered dangerous, including Afghanistan and Haiti.
The administration appears focused on taking protections away, and making it more difficult for people to find legal routes to stay in the United States, McCoy said. For people from Burma, that could mean difficult decisions.
“For many of them, going back to Burma is not an option. It’s not safe,” McCoy said.
Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL) represents Ramsey County, where the Karen community is concentrated, and co-chairs the Congressional Burma Caucus. She co-authored a letter to Noem and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging them to reverse the decision. The letter cites a 2024 State Department report that documented unlawful killings, forced labor, disappearances and the recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar.
In a statement to Sahan Journal, McCollum called the Trump administration’s position that there will be fair elections in Myanmar “preposterous,” and said the United States should continue to sanction the ruling junta.
“If Burma is unsafe for American visitors, it is certainly unsafe for those who have fled the country and been given protected status,” McCollum said. “The Trump administration should reverse its decision ending temporary protective status based on governance and stability for Burma.”
Survival mode
The Karen community is still relatively new to the United States, and it’s only now that the first generation of Karen Americans are entering professional careers. Therapists like Tar and Way are rare, even in hotbed communities like St. Paul, and often are called on to help families beyond the typical scope of their jobs.
Unlike more established communities, there are no Karen-speaking immigration attorneys and relatively few places to turn for services like translation.
The Karen people are very traditional, Lar said, and usually listen to those in positions of authority. Challenging the system has often brought devastating consequences for the Karen, and there is a lot of intergenerational trauma and fear, he added.
Scrutiny on immigrants could drive the Karen community to put their heads down and lay low, instead of asserting their rights, he said.
“People are just going to go into survival mode,” Lar said.
Way worries that some cultural practices in Myanmar will prevent community members from seeking help. “Ana” is a Burmese cultural term also used by Karen people that reflects the burden people feel when they ask others for help, or if they are offered assistance. As a result, many are hesitant to ask for assistance unless circumstances are dire.
“People might not be speaking,” Way said.
