US Courts Allow Deportations of South Sudan, Myanmar Nationals

Federal courts have cleared the path for the deportation of nationals from South Sudan and Myanmar by upholding the Trump administration's decision to terminate their Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This ruling allows the U.S. government to proceed with removing individuals who have been residing in the United States under this humanitarian protection.

Temporary Protected Status is a program that allows individuals from designated countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to remain in the United States. It is not intended as a pathway to permanent residency. The Trump administration announced its intention to end TPS for South Sudan in October 2018, with the termination set to take effect in May 2019. Similarly, TPS for Myanmar was slated for termination in June 2018, with the effective date later extended to November 2018. These decisions were met with legal challenges from immigrant advocacy groups and affected individuals who argued that the terminations were arbitrary and capricious, and that the conditions in the home countries still warranted protection.

In response to these challenges, several lawsuits were filed. A key ruling came from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which initially blocked the terminations. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit later overturned this preliminary injunction, allowing the deportations to proceed. The Ninth Circuit's decision focused on the deference owed to executive branch decisions regarding foreign policy and national security. Immigrant rights advocates expressed disappointment, stating that the ruling would force thousands of individuals, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for years and have established lives and families, back to dangerous conditions in their home countries. They argued that South Sudan continues to face significant instability and violence, and that Myanmar has not seen sufficient improvement in human rights and safety to justify ending TPS.

The termination of TPS for these two countries affects thousands of individuals. For South Sudan, the designation was first granted in 2011 due to civil war and later renewed due to ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis. For Myanmar, TPS was granted in 2017 following widespread human rights abuses and violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority, as well as broader political instability. The legal battles over TPS have been a significant feature of immigration policy debates, with various administrations using their authority to modify or terminate the program for different nationalities. These court rulings represent a significant development in the ongoing legal and policy landscape surrounding TPS and its beneficiaries.