Politics and views in the United States.

The abrupt cancellation of immigration protection for Somalis sparks alarm in Minnesota and intensifies political tensions, while IRS policy changes, health-care costs and foreign-policy debates sharpen concerns nationally.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We believe the reason why TPS was terminated is because of online rhetoric to score political points and scapegoat the Somali immigrant population here in Minnesota.

Jailani Hussain, who leads the Muslim civil rights group Care Minnesota, says a sudden administration decision to strip temporary protected status from Somalis is landing hard in the nation's largest Somali community.

He warns that increasing misinformation is raising real fear in a state with just short of half of U.S. mosque attacks last year.

President Donald Trump's order ends TPS immediately for about 700 migrants nationally.

Trump calls Minnesota a hub of loosely monitored immigrant money transfers.

At a Minnesota press conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they're following longstanding immigration law that requires TPS get periodic review.

TPS is a program that was always meant to be temporary.

We plan to follow the process that's in law to evaluate TPS and how it applies to different countries and individuals.

Critics argue Somalia remains unsafe and the move could separate U.S.-born children from their parents.

Minnesota's Democratic governor says Trump is targeting an entire community to distract from his political problems.

The administration is defending a new peace framework for Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls current talks in Geneva positive, but lawmakers from both parties say the framework reads like a Moscow wish list.

They question why the president has set a Thanksgiving deadline for it.

On social media, Trump has again accused Kiev of being ungrateful for U.S. support.

In Texas, the fate of a newly redrawn congressional map remains uncertain after a week of conflicting court rulings.

The map targets several Latina-majority districts that helped shape the 2024 outcome, and both parties say the stakes are high heading into next year's midterms.

The White House is ending the IRS Direct File program in 2026, reversing the free tax filing tool launched under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Adam Rubin with the Economic Security Project says it's enormously popular and saves taxpayers billions.

It could save existing tax filers $8 billion in filing fees, and it could help people who are missing out on tax credits claim an additional $12 billion more.

The administration says as part of its economic focus, it wants to replace direct file with a broader, quote, "affordability-focused system."

But consumer and government watchdog groups say the government's failure to deal with rising health insurance premiums doesn't make that look promising.

Brian Lemick with Defend the Vote says political dysfunction is making it harder for Congress to address affordability.

Instead of making laws and legislating, they closed the government.

They limit the ability to make sure families have affordable health care.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.