DHS Blocked From Ending Deportation Protection for South Sudanese

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to halt its plan to scrap deportation protections for South Sudanese nationals who are living in the United States.

Boston-based U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley granted an emergency request by South Sudanese nationals and an immigrant rights group to extend the temporary protected status (TPS) that is due to end next week

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice indicating that TPS for South Sudanese would be terminated on Jan. 5, 2026, meaning that any nationals living in the United States under that status need to leave before then or face immigration enforcement efforts.

Kelley issued the order after four nationals from South Sudan, along with African Communities Together, a nonprofit group, sued the Trump administration. The lawsuit alleged that the DHS action was unlawful and exposed them to being deported to a country facing humanitarian crises.

The judge issued an administrative stay on Dec. 30, temporarily voiding the termination policy pending further litigation. She said that allowing it to take effect before the courts had time to consider the merits “would result in an immediate impact on the South Sudanese nationals, stripping current beneficiaries of lawful status, which could imminently result in their deportation.”

“Further, if their TPS expires and is eventually restored following a full consideration of the merits, any gap in immigration status for South Sudanese nationals could result in ineligibility for future relief,” Kelley wrote.

About 232 South Sudanese nationals have found refuge in the United States under TPS, and another 73 have pending applications for that same protection, according to the lawsuit.

In the notice, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that following a review of conditions in South Sudan, it “no longer continues to meet the conditions for the designation,” saying that a civil war in the African nation that erupted after it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 does not pose a “serious threat to the personal safety of returning South Sudanese nationals.”

The United States began designating South Sudan for TPS in 2011. TPS is a humanitarian program offered by DHS that allows nationals of selected countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to remain in the United States on a temporary basis and with work authorization.

Under the Biden administration, TPS was expanded to cover hundreds of thousands of people who came to the United States from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Haiti, and several other countries. But Noem’s department has moved to end temporary protections to foreign nationals from countries including Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

Earlier this month, DHS announced it would be ending TPS for Ethiopian nationals living in the United States by Feb. 13, 2026. As it has in other TPS termination announcements, DHS suggested that Ethiopian nationals who are currently residing in the country under the program should self-deport using the agency’s CBP Home app to receive a cash bonus.

Aside from the TPS terminations, the Trump administration has also expanded travel restrictions and bans on nationals coming into the United States from a number of countries.

An order signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 16 added full restrictions to South Sudan and four other countries, along with continuing full restrictions for 12 high-risk nations.

Reuters contributed to this report.