The Trump administration is moving to end deportation protections for South Sudanese nationals who have held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 14 years, requiring them to leave the United States or face removal, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice posted Wednesday.
The decision affects migrants from South Sudan who arrived in the U.S. as early as 2011. This move is part of a broader effort by the current Trump administration to revoke TPS for several groups, including Venezuelan, Haitian, and Syrian nationals.
“Under the previous administration, [TPS] was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation,” a DHS spokesperson said to the Tampa Free Press. “TPS was never designed to be permanent.”
The spokesperson added that “With the renewed peace in South Sudan, their demonstrated commitment to ensuring the safe reintegration of returning nationals, and improved diplomatic relations, now is the right time to conclude what was always intended to be a temporary designation.”
South Sudan was initially designated for TPS in 2011, following its independence from Sudan. The protection, granted due to civil war and instability, had been repeatedly extended during the Obama, Biden, and Trump’s first administration, and was most recently extended by the current Trump administration in May.
DHS acknowledged that the country has long been plagued by civil war and instability but cited ongoing negotiations with the transitional government and an improving security environment as evidence that South Sudan is ready to receive returning citizens.
“Although residual challenges from the civil war remain, there is no longer an ongoing armed conflict that poses a serious threat to the personal safety of returning South Sudanese nationals,” the agency stated.
The agency noted that while “inter/intra-communal violence” remains, a return to “full-scale civil war, to-date, has been avoided.” Recent diplomatic developments were also cited as indicating South Sudan’s willingness to ensure the safety and reintegration of its returning nationals.
The Trump administration has faced multiple legal challenges regarding previous TPS revocations. However, the administration recently received favorable rulings:
- The Supreme Court in October allowed the administration to move forward with ending protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals.
- A federal appeals court in May lifted a separate order that had prevented DHS from revoking TPS for roughly 60,000 Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Nepali nationals.
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