Two U.S. district judges have rejected separate lawsuits seeking to preserve Temporary Protected Status for nationals of Myanmar and South Sudan, and the DHS has posted alerts confirming that TPS designations for both countries were halted effective Aug. 7. The Department of Homeland Security notice follows those court rulings and signals the end of the formal TPS protections established for those populations.
TPS is a temporary humanitarian designation that shields eligible nationals of designated countries from removal and typically permits work authorization while conditions in their home countries are deemed unsafe for return. The designations for Myanmar and South Sudan were originally made on humanitarian grounds; the recent judicial decisions mean those designations will no longer be in effect under the current rulings.
The court rulings involved challenges to the legal basis for maintaining TPS status in these cases; judges in two U.S. district courts dismissed the suits that had sought to block termination of the designations. Following those rulings, the Department of Homeland Security issued public alerts confirming the halting of TPS for both countries. As a result, individuals who had benefited from TPS may lose work authorization and the protection from removal that the status provided, unless they qualify for alternative immigration relief.
Legal advocates, service providers and affected communities are monitoring the situation as recipients and their representatives assess available options, which may include pursuing further legal appeals or seeking other forms of immigration relief where eligible. The judiciary’s decisions do not preclude additional litigation; future actions in higher courts or administrative processes could alter the status of these designations. Federal agencies and legal counsel for noncitizens are expected to provide guidance to those directly affected in the coming days and weeks.
