US Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Strip South Sudan Deportation Protections

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end temporary protected status (TPS) for South Sudanese citizens living in the United States. US District Judge Angel Kelley granted an emergency request on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by several South Sudanese nationals and an immigrant rights group. The order prevents the TPS for South Sudanese citizens from expiring on January 5 as planned.

The lawsuit, led by African Communities Together, accuses the US Department of Homeland Security of acting unlawfully in its effort to strip South Sudanese citizens of TPS. The status was initially granted in 2011 due to natural disasters and conflict in the country. It has been repeatedly renewed amid ongoing instability and humanitarian crises.

The Trump administration had argued that the country no longer met the conditions for TPS, citing a tenuous peace agreement in 2018. However, a panel of United Nations experts found that “the resulting human suffering has remained unchanged” despite the conflict’s contours being altered. The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration exposed South Sudan citizens to deportation to a country facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The decision comes as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for foreign nationals from various countries, including Syria, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Several court challenges have been filed in response to these efforts.

Source: Al Jazeera