Trump Administration Gets Court Approval To Terminate Temporary Protected Status for African Country
- A federal judge in Boston lifted a stay that had blocked the Department of Homeland Security from terminating Somalia's Temporary Protected Status designation
- The ruling cited a June Supreme Court decision that significantly curtailed lower courts' ability to block Trump administration TPS terminations
- Roughly 2,471 Somali nationals currently hold TPS in the United States, with a further 1,383 applications still pending
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A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Somali nationals in the United States, handing the White House a significant legal victory.
US District Judge Allison Burroughs, sitting in Boston, lifted a stay on Friday that had previously prevented the Department of Homeland Security from terminating Somalia's TPS designation.
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She cited the Supreme Court's June ruling in Mullin v. Doe, which sharply restricted lower courts' power to review administration decisions on TPS terminations, as the basis for her decision.
Why the stay was lifted
Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, had earlier blocked the termination following a lawsuit brought by four Somali nationals and two advocacy organisations, including African Communities Together.
The plaintiffs argued that the administration's move was driven by racial and national-origin bias, pointing to past remarks by President Trump in which he described Somalis as "garbage" and "low IQ people."
In her ruling, Burroughs acknowledged the strength of the plaintiffs' position, writing that they had made "a convincing showing that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is withheld" and that the balance of hardships favoured them.
Despite those findings, she concluded that the Supreme Court's decision bound her to lift the stay, describing herself as required "to view things through the Mullin prism."
What happens to affected Somali nationals
The Trump administration announced in January 2025 that it intended to terminate Somalia's TPS designation. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued at the time that conditions inside Somalia had improved sufficiently to justify ending the humanitarian protections.
According to figures from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, approximately 2,471 Somali nationals currently hold TPS, while a further 1,383 have pending applications. Those without another lawful basis to remain in the United States now face potential deportation following the court's decision.
Following the Supreme Court's June ruling, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint raising fresh constitutional claims under the Fifth Amendment and sought emergency relief in a further attempt to block the termination.
Burroughs had issued an administrative stay earlier in July after those new claims were submitted, but that stay has now been lifted.
The Supreme Court's decision in Mullin v. Doe also found that the equal protection challenge raised in that case was unlikely to succeed, further narrowing the legal avenues available to groups contesting TPS terminations across multiple countries.
US expands visa overstay crackdown to 15 airports
In a related development, YEN.com.gh reported that the US has started detaining foreign nationals with expired visas directly at airports.
Officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have carried out arrests at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals across at least 15 airports in recent weeks.
Ghanaian nationals, along with nationals from more than a dozen other countries, are among those affected.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
