A Federal Judge Clears the Way for Somalia TPS Termination

A federal court has removed the legal barrier that was blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary protected status for approximately 1,100 Somali nationals living in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ruled Friday that the Department of Homeland Security may proceed with revoking Somalia's TPS designation. The decision follows a June Supreme Court ruling, decided 6–3, that limited federal courts' authority to review DHS decisions to end TPS protections for 13 countries, including Haiti and Syria.

The TPS program gives eligible migrants from designated countries the right to live and work in the U.S. when conditions in their home countries are considered unsafe. In January, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to end Somalia's designation, arguing conditions there had improved despite ongoing fighting between Somali forces and the al-Shabaab militant group. Judge Burroughs had initially blocked that move in March after a lawsuit from four Somali individuals and two advocacy organizations, including African Communities Together, which alleged the decision was driven by bias against non-white immigrants.

With last week's rulings allowing TPS terminations for South Sudan and Myanmar, Ethiopia is now the only country whose TPS termination remains blocked by a court.

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Why the Somali Ruling Follows the Supreme Court's June Decision

The Supreme Court's June Ruling Is Now Reshaping the Lower Courts

The Somali decision is not a standalone immigration case. It is a direct downstream effect of the Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling that federal judges may not freely second-guess DHS decisions to end TPS designations. Judge Burroughs had previously kept the Somali protections in place while she considered whether the plaintiffs could challenge the administration's actions on grounds the Supreme Court had not addressed. Friday's ruling indicates that window has effectively closed for Somalia, as it has already done for South Sudan and Myanmar.

The Discrimination Claim Made the Somali Case Distinct

Unlike a purely administrative dispute, the Somali plaintiffs argued that the administration wanted to end TPS because of bias against non-white immigrants. They cited Donald Trump's past statements describing Somalis as "trash" and people with "low IQ." That claim explains why Judge Burroughs, an Obama appointee, had initially paused the termination. The Supreme Court's limits on judicial review appear to have narrowed the path for that argument to keep the protections in place, but the ruling does not necessarily resolve the underlying discrimination allegation on its merits.

Ethiopia Is Now the Last Active Legal Holdout

After rulings on South Sudan and Myanmar last week, Ethiopia is the only remaining TPS termination still blocked by a judge. The practical message across these cases is that the Supreme Court's decision is quickly translating into lower-court outcomes favorable to the administration's effort to end TPS designations. For affected communities, that shifts attention from litigation back to the timing and mechanics of DHS implementation.

What the Ruling Means for Somali TPS Holders and the Remaining Cases

For Somali TPS holders, advocates and policy observers

  • The ruling removes the injunction that had kept work authorization and deportation protections in place while litigation continued.
  • No implementation date is stated in Friday's decision; DHS will still have to formalize the termination of Somalia's TPS designation.
  • Ethiopia remains the only TPS case still blocked by a court, while South Sudan and Myanmar were cleared last week.