A federal judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of South Sudanese nationals living in the United States. TPS is a humanitarian program that allows people from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the U.S.
The administration had planned to let TPS for South Sudan expire on January 5, which would have exposed affected migrants to deportation. Several South Sudanese nationals, along with the immigrant‑rights organization African Communities Together, filed an emergency lawsuit arguing that ending TPS would unlawfully force people back into a country still facing severe instability, violence, and humanitarian crises.
Judge Kelley agreed that the potential harm was serious enough to justify an emergency stay, meaning TPS holders from South Sudan can remain in the U.S. while the court reviews the case more fully. The judge emphasized that this ruling does not decide the ultimate legality of ending TPS—it simply preserves the status quo to avoid immediate harm while the case proceeds.
The court will continue reviewing written arguments into mid‑January, after which a more definitive ruling is expected.
About 232 South Sudanese nationals have been beneficiaries of TPS and have found refuge in the United States, and another 73 have pending applications for that same protection, according to the lawsuit.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem published a notice on November 5 terminating TPS for South Sudan, saying the country no longer met the conditions for the designation.
Her department has moved to similarly end temporary protections to foreign nationals from countries including Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua, prompting several court challenges.
The lawsuit argues the agency’s action violated the statute governing the TPS program, ignored the dire humanitarian conditions that remain in South Sudan, and was motivated by discrimination against migrants who are not white in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment
