Judge Lifts Stay, Allowing End to Somali TPS Protections

A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Somali nationals in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston lifted a stay she had previously imposed, citing a June Supreme Court ruling that limits judicial review of administration actions on TPS. The decision allows the Department of Homeland Security to proceed with ending TPS for Somalia, potentially making affected migrants subject to deportation. Burroughs had initially blocked the termination in a lawsuit brought by Somali nationals and advocacy groups, including African Communities Together.

The Trump administration announced its plan to end Somalia's TPS designation in January, with then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stating conditions in the country had improved. The Supreme Court's ruling in Mullin v. Doe in June found that the TPS statute bars judicial review of certain administrative decisions to terminate TPS designations and that a related equal protection challenge was unlikely to succeed.

This ruling has curtailed lower courts' ability to review similar administration efforts to end TPS for nationals of multiple countries. The case challenging the termination for Somalia was African Communities Together v.