TPS protections to end for Myanmar, South Sudan

Two U.S. district judges rejected cases defending temporary protections for migrants from South Sudan and Myanmar, leaving some at risk for deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued two alerts on its website confirming that, effective Aug. 7, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation had been halted for both countries.

The notice came after U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of Boston rejected an attempt by an immigrant-advocacy organization to protect South Sudanese migrants currently living in the U.S. under TPS protections. A similar decision followed hours later by District Judge Matthew Kennelly of Chicago for migrants from Myanmar.

TPS was created under the Immigration Act of 1990 — providing temporary, lawful immigration status in the U.S. for certain foreign nationals who are already in the country and are from countries to where the government has deemed returning unsafe.

South Sudan received the TPS designation in 2011 due to the civil war while Myanmar was designated in 2021 based on “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

DHS initially attempted to end TPS protections for both countries in November, but at the time, Saris and Kennelly rejected the proposals. A June Supreme Court decision laid the groundwork for the federal judges’ decisions, with justices then ruling to end TPS protections for migrants from Haiti and Syria.

The high court ruled in a 6-3 decision, along ideological lines, that federal judges had no authority to weigh in on a challenge to TPS terminations — allowing federal authorities to continue.

The loss of TPS will impact around 4,200 South Sudanese and Myanmar migrants, Reuters reported.

Myanmar is still being led by an army that overthrew the government and detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In February, the United Nations warned that South Sudan was on a “dangerous precipice,” as violence continued to escalate in the country.