Federal Judge Greenlights Trump Administration Termination of South Sudanese Deportation Protections

A federal judge in Boston cleared the way for the administration of President Donald Trump to terminate temporary protections against deportation for South Sudanese nationals living in the United States.U.S. District Judge Patti Saris rejected a legal challenge brought forward by immigrant-rights advocates. The advocates sought to maintain the Temporary Protected Status designation for South Sudan. Saris issued her ruling after pointing to a U.S. Supreme Court decision from June 2026. That Supreme Court decision, decided by a 6-3 conservative majority, permitted the Trump administration to terminate similar humanitarian protections for thousands of individuals from Syria and Haiti.The high court's decision restricted the statutory authority of lower-court federal judges to review actions taken by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding Temporary Protected Status for approximately one dozen countries. Consequently, Saris dissolved an earlier judicial order she had issued that explicitly blocked the federal government from stripping the status from South Sudanese migrants.The federal immigration policy change impacts more than 232 South Sudanese nationals currently residing inside the United States under the program. Additionally, the decision affects at least 73 South Sudanese nationals who currently have applications pending with federal immigration authorities.The Department of Homeland Security initially moved to cancel the Temporary Protected Status program for South Sudan in November 2025. Department officials stated that the country no longer fulfilled the specific emergency statutory conditions required to keep the special designation. South Sudan originally received its designation under the humanitarian program in 2011.The Temporary Protected Status d