Federal judges in Boston and Chicago have issued rulings that permit the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from South Sudan and Myanmar. This decision follows a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from June that significantly limited the power of lower courts to interfere with the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to end such protections. By rejecting the latest legal challenges, the judges have effectively cleared the way for the government to move forward with ending work authorizations and deportation safeguards for approximately 4,000 individuals from Myanmar and over 200 from South Sudan.

The legal battle centered on whether the DHS acted within its power when attempting to rescind these protections, which are typically granted to citizens of countries facing extreme circumstances like war or natural disasters. While immigrant-rights advocates argued that the government lacked the authority to revoke these designations, both Judge Patti Saris and Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled against them, noting that such a challenge would undermine the DHS’s established role in managing immigration policy. Following these developments, DHS officials have indicated that the vast majority of these cases have been resolved in their favor, leaving only protections for migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia currently blocked by ongoing court orders.