President Trump is seeking to lift South Sudan’s protected status, claiming it is no longer a danger to returnees.
Published December 30, 2025
A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump from stripping temporary deportation protections for South Sudanese nationals living in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday granted an emergency request in a lawsuit filed by several South Sudanese and immigrant rights groups.
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The order prevents Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudanese citizens from expiring on January 5, as sought by the Trump administration.
The lawsuit, led by AfricanCommunities Together, accuses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of illegally attempting to strip South Sudanese of their TPS, the U.S. immigration status granted to nationals of countries experiencing natural disasters, conflict, or other extraordinary circumstances that could jeopardize their return to their homeland.
This status was first recognized in 2011, when South Sudan officially separated from Sudan. This situation has been repeatedly updated amid repeated fighting, widespread displacement, and regional instability.
This status allows eligible individuals to work and receive temporary protection from deportation.
The lawsuit further alleges that the Trump administration put South Sudanese citizens at risk of deportation to a country facing what is widely considered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem asserted in a notice released on November 5 that the country no longer meets the terms of TPS.
“With a new peace in South Sudan, a demonstrated commitment to ensuring the safe reintegration of returning nationals, and improved diplomatic relations, now is the right time to conclude what was always intended to be a temporary designation,” she said, apparently referring to the shaky 2018 peace agreement.
The statement contradicts the findings of a UN panel of experts, which wrote in its November report to the UN Security Council that “the contours of conflict may change, but the resulting human suffering has not.”
“Ongoing conflict and airstrikes, as well as flooding and an influx of Sudanese returnees and refugees, have resulted in near-record levels of food insecurity, with reports of hunger in some of the areas most affected by the renewed fighting,” the report added.
The Trump administration has increasingly targeted TPS as part of its immigration crackdown and mass deportations.
The government has moved to end similar TPS for foreign nationals from countries including Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua, sparking several court challenges.
It also calls for the deportation of individuals to African countries even if they have no ties to the country.
