A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from ending deportation protections for about 200 South Sudanese nationals while a legal challenge proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, a Biden appointee, said the order does not address the underlying merits of the case but is intended to preserve the status quo.
As such, it allows the migrants to remain in the United States until the court can more fully consider the arguments, The Hill reported.
“Because of the serious consequences at stake, both for the Plaintiffs and the Defendants, the Court finds an administrative stay appropriate, as it would ‘minimize harm,’ while allowing the assigned District Court Judge the time this case deserves,” Kelley wrote in her four-page ruling.
The judge said she will issue a new ruling after reviewing written briefs from the parties, which are due by Jan. 13.
Temporary Protected Status allows nationals of designated countries to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization when conditions such as armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances make return unsafe.
South Sudan was first designated for TPS in 2011 after gaining independence. The country has since faced ongoing instability and violence, and the U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to avoid travel there.
Court filings indicate that approximately 232 South Sudanese nationals are currently covered by TPS, The Hill noted further.
President Trump’s second administration has moved to scale back the Temporary Protected Status program by ending TPS designations for several countries. Legal challenges remain pending over changes affecting Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela.
Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she had reviewed conditions in South Sudan and determined the country’s TPS designation would be terminated after Jan. 5, the outlet reported.
The decision prompted a lawsuit from individual South Sudanese TPS holders and African Communities Together, which argues that Noem acted unlawfully. The plaintiffs allege the decision was motivated by racial animus against nonwhite immigrants, that required consultations with other federal agencies did not occur, and that the administration lacked sufficient justification for ending the designation, said the report.
Kelley, whose court is in Boston, is expected to consider those claims next month. Her interim order keeps TPS protections in place for now, preventing recipients from becoming subject to deportation as early as next Tuesday, The Hill added.
