The United States government has announced that it has suspended all assistance programs benefiting Somalia.
In a statement Wednesday, January 8, the US Department of State said the decision followed reports implicating senior Somali government officials in the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme warehouse and the illegal seizure of large quantities of food aid.
"The US is deeply concerned by reports that the Federal Government of Somalia officials have destroyed a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis.
"The Trump Administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance," the statement read.
The US government stated that, as a direct consequence of these actions, it had halted all ongoing assistance programs benefiting Somalia and made it clear that aid would only resume if Somali authorities took responsibility and corrective action.
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"The State Department has paused all ongoing U.S. assistance programs which benefit the Somali Federal Government. Any resumption of assistance will be dependent upon the Somali Federal Government taking accountability for its unacceptable actions and taking appropriate remedial steps," the statement added.
This comes weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the immediate suspension of the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, commonly known as the green card lottery.
In a statement on Friday, December 19, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the decision follows renewed scrutiny of the program after a deadly shooting involving a former diversity visa recipient and earlier terrorist attacks connected to the same immigration pathway.
She said the individual responsible for the Brown University shooting entered the United States through the diversity visa program and later obtained permanent residency.
"The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," she said.
Noem also pointed to a previous attack during Trump’s earlier presidency, saying concerns over the program were raised after a deadly terrorist incident in New York City involving a diversity visa recipient.
"In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people," she added.
Noem said the order from Trump takes effect immediately, with immigration authorities instructed to halt the program while further action is considered.
"At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program," she concluded.
