Federal Judge Allows Trump Administration to Strip Temporary Protected Status from South Sudanese in US

A federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that the Trump administration may proceed with terminating temporary protected status (TPS) for South Sudanese nationals residing in the United States. The decision removes legal obstacles that immigrant rights organizations had sought to maintain, following a Supreme Court decision in June that allowed similar protections to be stripped for approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians.

The Court Decision

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of the District of Massachusetts rejected arguments from immigrant rights groups, including the New York-based African Communities Together, seeking to preserve TPS designations for South Sudanese immigrants. In a 15-page ruling, Saris determined that the plaintiffs' legal arguments were self-contradictory. She reasoned that if the Department of Homeland Security lacked authority to terminate South Sudan's TPS status, it would have equally lacked authority to establish it originally.

The judge's logic effectively closed the pathway that lower courts in New York and Washington, D.C. had attempted to use to block similar terminations for Haitian and Syrian populations. Following the June Supreme Court decision, which the conservative majority secured 6-3, the administration gained clear constitutional authority to proceed with TPS revocations across multiple nations.

What TPS Protections Provide

Temporary protected status is a federal designation granted to nationals from countries experiencing civil conflict, environmental disasters, or other humanitarian crises. The program permits eligible individuals to remain lawfully in the United States, protects them from deportation, and authorizes them to work legally. South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has endured prolonged civil war and political instability that has displaced millions of its population—circumstances that initially justified the TPS designation.

Ongoing Court Extensions

Even as termination authority has been affirmed, federal court orders have temporarily extended work authorization documents for certain TPS beneficiaries. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued updated guidance extending employment authorization validity for South Sudanese and Ethiopian TPS holders while litigation continues. These extensions provide short-term relief but do not alter the administration's ability to proceed with status terminations as legal challenges are resolved.

James Percival, General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, stated on social media that all other judges handling TPS cases should reach similar conclusions, framing the ruling as aligned with voter expectations. The administration's effort to eliminate these protections occurs despite the U.S. State Department maintaining travel warnings for Americans to South Sudan, Haiti, and Syria—the very nations whose nationals are losing legal status.