WASHINGTON, DC — United States federal judge has stopped the administration of President Donald Trump from ending temporary protection from deportation for South Sudanese citizens living in the US.
US District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston granted an emergency request on Tuesday, preventing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudanese nationals from expiring on January 5, as planned by the Trump administration.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by several South Sudanese citizens, together with the immigrant rights group African Communities Together.
The case argues that the US Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully by attempting to withdraw TPS, an immigration status given to people from countries affected by war, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions that make return unsafe.
South Sudan was first granted TPS in 2011, the year it gained independence from Sudan. The designation has been repeatedly renewed due to ongoing conflict and other severe humanitarian conditions.
TPS allows eligible South Sudanese to live and work legally in the United States and protects them from deportation.
The lawsuit says ending TPS would expose South Sudanese citizens to forced return to a country facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
South Sudan continues to struggle with insecurity, food shortages and displacement caused by conflict and climate shocks.
In a notice published on November 5, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said South Sudan no longer met the requirements for TPS.
She cited what she described as renewed peace, improved diplomatic relations and efforts by the South Sudanese government to reintegrate returning citizens, referring to a fragile 2018 peace agreement.
However, her position contradicts recent findings by a United Nations panel of experts. In a report to the UN Security Council in November, the panel said that although the conflict has changed in form, human suffering remains severe.
It warned of ongoing fighting, aerial bombardments, flooding, and the arrival of returnees and refugees from Sudan, leading to near-record levels of food insecurity and even famine in some areas.
The Trump administration has increasingly targeted TPS as part of a wider immigration crackdown and mass deportation policy.
It has also moved to end TPS for nationals of countries such as Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua, decisions that have sparked multiple legal challenges in US courts.
Additional source: Agencies (Reuters, Al Jazeera)