A federal judge in Massachusetts has cleared the way for the President Donald Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali nationals residing in the United States. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, on Friday, August 14, denied an emergency request from Somali nationals and immigration advocacy groups seeking to prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending Somalia’s TPS designation. In her ruling, Judge Burroughs also lifted an administrative stay she had previously issued, which had temporarily prevented the termination from taking effect.
"bound … to view things through the Mullin prism" — Judge Allison Burroughs, U.S. District Judge
This legal victory enables the Trump administration to move forward with ending the longstanding protections for Somali nationals, even as the underlying litigation continues. The decision marks another step in the administration's broader effort to review and potentially terminate TPS designations for countries where officials argue conditions no longer meet the statutory requirements for the program.
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian immigration program established by Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows eligible foreign nationals who are already present in the United States to remain and obtain work authorization when the Department of Homeland Security determines that conditions in their home country temporarily prevent their safe return. Countries can be designated for TPS due to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.
Somalia has held a TPS designation continuously since 1991, initially due to extraordinary conditions and later also because of persistent armed conflict. In January, the Department of Homeland Security announced its decision to terminate Somalia’s designation, asserting that conditions in the country had improved sufficiently to no longer satisfy the statutory requirements for TPS. The termination was originally scheduled to become effective on March 17. The precise number of Somali nationals affected by this decision has been subject to varying reports, though it impacts a significant population currently protected by the program.
Following DHS’s announcement, four Somali nationals, along with advocacy organizations African Communities Together and the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In response to this legal challenge, Judge Burroughs issued an administrative stay in March, temporarily preventing the administration from implementing the termination while the legal proceedings advanced.
The dispute was subsequently paused as courts awaited a potentially consequential Supreme Court decision concerning the federal government’s authority over TPS designations. That pivotal decision arrived on June 25. The Supreme Court ruled that federal law precludes judicial review of non-constitutional claims challenging a Homeland Security Secretary’s decision to designate, extend, or terminate a foreign country’s TPS status. The statute explicitly states that there is “no judicial review of any determination” made by the secretary regarding “the designation, or termination or extension of a designation, of a foreign state.” The Supreme Court also indicated that an equal-protection challenge related to the administration’s termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was unlikely to succeed, a ruling that cleared the way for the administration to terminate TPS protections for approximately 350,000 Haitians and roughly 6,000 Syrians.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Trump administration requested that Judge Burroughs lift the stay covering Somalia. The plaintiffs subsequently amended their complaint, shifting their focus to constitutional arguments under the Fifth Amendment, including claims of equal protection and due process. They also contended that the Secretary lacked the statutory authority to terminate Somalia’s designation. Judge Burroughs initially maintained temporary relief while she considered these revised arguments.
However, in her Friday ruling, Judge Burroughs denied the plaintiffs’ emergency motion for postponement of the agency action and a preliminary injunction. She acknowledged the potentially severe consequences for the plaintiffs, stating, “Plaintiffs have made a convincing showing that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is withheld.” She also noted that other factors weighed in their favor, writing, “The balance of hardships and the public interest also favor Plaintiffs, given that the government has made no showing that maintaining TPS status for the duration of this litigation would impose an undue burden.”
Despite these findings, Judge Burroughs concluded that these factors were ultimately insufficient to keep the administration’s policy blocked. She explained that she was “bound … to view things through the Mullin prism,” referring to the Supreme Court decision that significantly altered the legal landscape for TPS challenges. To secure a preliminary injunction, plaintiffs must generally demonstrate, among other factors, that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their case. Judge Burroughs concluded that the Somali plaintiffs had failed to satisfy this critical requirement in light of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law. Consequently, she denied their request for an injunction and lifted the administrative stay.
The decision is a significant legal win for the President Trump administration as it continues its efforts to terminate TPS designations that officials believe are no longer justified by current conditions. While the underlying lawsuit against the termination is not necessarily over, Friday’s ruling removes the immediate legal barrier that had prevented the administration from proceeding with its termination of Somalia’s TPS designation.
