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By Gabe Whisnant
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Hundreds of South Sudanese immigrants may be allowed to continue living and working legally in the United States after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending their immigration protections, while she considers whether the move was unlawful.
Why It Matters
Civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups sued the Department of Homeland Security in late December, arguing that the decision to revoke TPS violated federal administrative law and was unconstitutional. The lawsuit claims the move was motivated by racial bias and aimed at “significantly reducing the number of non-white and non-European immigrants in the United States.”
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The case is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to roll back immigration protections created or expanded under President Joe Biden. The administration has moved to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians and has signaled that protections for immigrants from Ethiopia, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Syria, Nicaragua and Honduras could also be revoked.
What To Know
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts issued an order Tuesday preventing the federal government from deporting South Sudanese nationals who hold or have applied for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. The program was set to end Jan. 6, 2026, which would have left roughly 300 people eligible for removal once their legal status expired.
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In her order, Kelley said the consequences of ending protections for South Sudanese immigrants warranted careful judicial review before any deportations could proceed. She said the change could cause irreversible harm to people who have built lives in the U.S. and face uncertain and potentially dangerous conditions if returned.
The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized the ruling, accusing the court of overstepping its authority.
Temporary Protected Status allows people from countries affected by war, natural disaster or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States for limited periods. Applicants must already be in the country and undergo background checks and vetting by DHS.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the administration believes conditions in South Sudan have improved enough to justify ending protections, citing what she described as renewed peace, safe reintegration of returning nationals and improved diplomatic relations. She said the TPS program had been abused under the previous administration to allow criminals and security threats into the country.
But international observers and aid groups dispute that assessment. United Nations experts have warned that South Sudan remains deeply unstable, with fragmented government and opposition forces and widespread insecurity. Years of conflict have left the country heavily dependent on foreign aid, which has been reduced following sweeping cuts to U.S. assistance under the Trump administration.
South Sudanese nationals became eligible for TPS in 2011, the year the country gained independence after decades of civil war. Since then, renewed violence, political instability and economic collapse have hampered the government’s ability to provide basic services. Many people face severe food shortages, and hunger monitors have warned that parts of the country are approaching famine conditions.
Advocates for TPS holders said the administration’s claim that South Sudan is safe contradicts warnings from other U.S. agencies.
Dorian Spence, litigation coordinator for Communities United for Status and Protection, accused the administration of pursuing racially motivated immigration policies and pointed to Trump’s expressed willingness to accept white South Africans as refugees. “This is only one prong in their multi-pronged attack into making America whiter,” he said.
Some critics in South Sudan have suggested the TPS decision was retaliation for the country’s refusal to accept certain deportees from the U.S. under a controversial program involving third-country removals. At least eight men were deported from the United States to South Sudan earlier this year, despite concerns about safety and due process.
What People Are Saying
Kelley wrote, “These significant and far-reaching consequences not only deserve, but require, a full and careful consideration of the merits by the Court."
McLaughlin said in a statement, “Yet another lawless and activist order from the federal judiciary who continues to usurp the President’s constitutional authority. Now is the right time to conclude what was always intended to be a temporary designation."
Spence said, “I don’t know how DHS can say with a straight face that it’s safe for South Sudanese TPS holders to return when their own State Department says it’s not safe to travel there."
What Happens Next
Judge Kelley has not yet ruled on the merits of the lawsuit. Her order halting deportations will remain in effect while the case proceeds.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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