A federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that the Trump administration can proceed with ending Temporary Protected Status for South Sudanese nationals in the US, following a Supreme Court decision in June that let the administration strip TPS from Haitians and Syrians. Judge Patti Saris rejected arguments from immigrant rights groups, including African Communities Together, that the Department of Homeland Security lacked authority to terminate the designation.
The ruling affects more than 232 South Sudanese with TPS and at least 73 with pending applications, out of a total described as only a few hundred nationwide. Advocacy group Global Refuge noted that South Sudan is on the brink of renewed civil war, with roughly two-thirds of its population, about 10 million people, dependent on humanitarian aid.
A DHS official welcomed the decision on social media and called for other judges to follow suit. The move comes despite the US government's own travel warnings advising against travel to South Sudan, Haiti and Syria for safety reasons.
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