US judge allows end of temporary protections for South Sudanese nationals
A federal judge rejected a renewed challenge to the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, affecting more than 300 people with protections or pending applications.
In short
- A federal judge rejected a renewed challenge to the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, affecting more than 300 people with protections or pending applications.
A US federal judge ruled on Friday, August 7, 2026, that the Trump administration may proceed with ending Temporary Protected Status for South Sudanese nationals, rejecting a renewed attempt by immigrant-rights groups to preserve the designation.
US District Judge Patti Saris in Massachusetts denied arguments brought by South Sudanese plaintiffs and African Communities Together. The ruling affects more than 232 South Sudanese people holding the temporary protection and at least 73 others with pending applications, according to figures cited in the case.
Temporary Protected Status, commonly known as TPS, lets eligible nationals of countries facing war, natural disasters or other extraordinary crises live and work legally in the United States for limited periods. Ending the designation can expose people without another legal status to detention and deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security moved in November 2025 to terminate South Sudan's TPS designation, saying the country no longer met the statutory conditions. The protection had first been granted after South Sudan gained independence in 2011. An earlier order from Saris had temporarily blocked the termination.
Plaintiffs argued that the Department of Homeland Security lacked authority to terminate TPS because the 1990 law establishing the program assigned that power to the attorney general. Saris concluded that Congress transferred the relevant immigration authority to the department after it was created in 2002. She also wrote that the plaintiffs' theory would call the original South Sudan designation into question on the same grounds.
The decision followed a June 2026 US Supreme Court ruling that allowed the administration to end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians while litigation continued. South Sudan remains affected by political instability, conflict and displacement, making the termination consequential for nationals who could be required to return.
