The Trump administration will revoke temporary protected status for thousands of Somali nationals in the United States in the face of White House claims that the diaspora community in Minnesota participated in widespread fraud, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday.

Noem told Fox News that Somalis with temporary protected status would be required to leave the country by March 17. She argued that conditions in Somalia have improved and added that “allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interest. We are putting Americans first.”

In a separate social media post, the Department of Homeland Security wrote: “Our message is clear. Go back to your own country, or we’ll send you back ourselves.”

The move would affect thousands of Somalis in the United States, though not the majority of the U.S. Somali community, many of which are already permanent residents or U.S. citizens. Yet the announcement comes as the federal government ramps up its immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, the state with the largest Somali population in the United States.