Immigrant rights advocates have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to end temporary protections from deportation for South Sudanese migrants living in the US.
The case, filed in a federal court in Boston, was brought by four South Sudanese nationals alongside the non profit group African Communities Together. They argue that the Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully placing them at risk of deportation by terminating their Temporary Protected Status after January 5.
Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, allows people from countries affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions to live and work in the US without facing removal. The lawsuit says the administration violated the law governing the programme, failed to consider ongoing humanitarian crises in South Sudan and acted with discriminatory intent in breach of the US Constitution.
Advocates say South Sudan remains deeply unstable, pointing to years of violence since independence in 2011. A civil war between 2013 and 2018 killed an estimated 400,000 people, and insecurity and political tensions persist.
“This pattern shows an agenda of stripping protections from migrant communities of colour, regardless of the dangers they face,” said the head of African Communities Together in a statement.
According to the lawsuit, around 232 South Sudanese nationals currently benefit from TPS in the US, with a further 73 applications pending.
The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly responded to the legal challenge. Last month, the homeland security secretary announced that South Sudan no longer met the conditions for TPS, following similar moves affecting migrants from countries including Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua. Those decisions have also triggered court challenges.