A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday upheld the Trump administration’s plan to terminate temporary protected status for South Sudanese nationals residing in the United States. The decision by US District Judge Patti Saris rejected arguments by immigrant rights organizations, including the New York-based African Communities Together, seeking to maintain the protections.
The ruling follows a June Supreme Court decision that allowed the administration to strip TPS protections from hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals. The high court’s 6-3 conservative majority overturned lower court rulings blocking the termination of TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians and approximately 6,100 Syrians. TPS designations permit nationals from countries experiencing crises such as civil war or environmental disasters to live and work legally in the United States while receiving deportation protection.
In her 15-page decision, Saris determined that plaintiffs’ arguments were self-contradictory, reasoning that if the Department of Homeland Security lacked authority to terminate South Sudan’s designation, it similarly could not have issued it originally. The judge concluded that Congress had properly transferred TPS authority to the DHS, established in 2002, from the attorney general position referenced in the original 1990 statute creating the program.
The DHS moved to end TPS for South Sudan in November, affecting more than 232 South Sudanese nationals and at least 73 with pending applications. Immigrant advocacy organizations have opposed the termination, citing South Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict and humanitarian crisis. Global Refuge’s CEO characterized the decision as deliberate removal of a vulnerable population from a country where civilians face intensifying violence. The Trump administration argues the country no longer meets TPS designation conditions, while advocates note that fewer than several hundred South Sudanese hold such status, representing a minimal administrative burden compared to the humanitarian risks of removal.
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