A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration may end deportation protections for approximately 1,100 Somalis living in the United States. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued the order allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Somalia. TPS is a program that provides humanitarian immigration protection and work permits to eligible migrants from countries facing ongoing conflict or environmental disasters.
The ruling follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that restricted the ability of judges to review DHS efforts to end TPS for 13 countries. The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision previously allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of individuals from Haiti and Syria. In light of that precedent, Judge Burroughs lifted her own previous block on the Somalia termination, which she had initially issued in March following a lawsuit by four Somalis and two advocacy groups.
The legal dispute centered on whether the administration's decision was based on changing conditions in Somalia or discriminatory bias. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the end of Somali TPS in January, stating that conditions in the country had improved. The plaintiffs challenged this, citing ongoing fighting between Somali forces and al-Shabaab militants and pointing to past derogatory comments about Somalis made by President Donald Trump as evidence of bias. Judge Burroughs noted she had considered whether plaintiffs could challenge the DHS action on grounds not addressed by the Supreme Court before issuing Friday's order.
For the affected individuals, the concrete day-to-day change involves the loss of legal status and the right to remain in their current jobs and homes. This transition occurs as the U.S. government argues that safety conditions in Somalia have stabilized enough to permit returns, despite reports of active conflict with al-Shabaab militants as recently as January 2026. The legal precedent set by the Supreme Court in June has effectively limited the judiciary's power to intervene in how the executive branch manages these humanitarian programs, shifting significant authority to the Department of Homeland Security.
The knock-on effects of these rulings are expected to influence pending litigation involving other TPS-designated countries. As federal judges align their orders with the Supreme Court's June mandate, the broad protections once granted to tens of thousands of migrants from various nations are being systematically dismantled. While the immediate legal barrier for Somali deportations has been removed, the specific date when work permits will expire or when deportation proceedings will commence for the 1,100 individuals was not reported. The case involving Ethiopian TPS recipients is the next major legal deadline in this policy area.