A federal judge in Massachusetts has lifted a temporary court order that had blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali nationals, clearing the way for the U.S. government to terminate the humanitarian protection and potentially begin deportation proceedings against affected Somalis.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling on August 14, allowing the administration’s decision to end Somalia’s TPS designation to move forward. The ruling affects nearly 1,100 Somali nationals who had been protected from removal under the program.
TPS provides eligible nationals of designated countries with protection from deportation and authorization to work in the United States when conditions in their home countries make a safe return difficult. Somalia had been covered by the program for decades.
The Trump administration announced earlier this year that it would terminate Somalia’s TPS, arguing that conditions in the country had improved sufficiently for the protection to end. The decision was challenged in federal court by Somali immigrants and advocacy organizations, who argued that the termination was unlawful and influenced by discriminatory statements about Somalis.
The original termination was scheduled to take effect in March, but Judge Burroughs temporarily blocked it while the lawsuit proceeded. That protection remained in place as the courts considered the broader legal dispute surrounding the administration’s authority to terminate TPS.
The legal landscape changed after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a June ruling limiting judicial review of the administration’s decisions to terminate TPS for certain countries. Judge Burroughs subsequently lifted the stay protecting Somali TPS holders.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services now lists Somalia’s TPS designation as terminated effective August 14, 2026.
The ruling does not mean every Somali TPS holder will be immediately deported. Rather, it removes the TPS-based protection against removal and allows immigration authorities to enforce the termination. Individuals may have other immigration protections or legal avenues available to them depending on their circumstances.
The decision is nevertheless a major development for Somali communities across the United States, particularly in states such as Minnesota, where the Somali-American population is among the country’s largest.
Immigration advocates have warned affected individuals not to assume that the end of TPS means they must immediately leave the country. Instead, they are urging Somali TPS holders to seek advice from qualified immigration attorneys or accredited representatives to determine whether they may qualify for another form of legal status or protection.
The case also remains part of a broader legal battle over the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle TPS protections for nationals of several countries. Similar terminations have affected nationals of Haiti, Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan, while litigation continues over some of the administration’s decisions.
For Somali families who have lived and worked in the United States for years under TPS, the ruling marks the end of an important federal protection and opens a new period of uncertainty over their immigration status and future in the country.
