The Trump administration scored a major legal victory Friday when an Obama-appointed federal judge cleared the way for immigration officials to end temporary legal protections for thousands of Somali nationals living in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs of Boston lifted her earlier stay that had blocked the administration from terminating Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS), saying she was compelled to defer to a Supreme Court ruling from June that sharply limited the ability of federal judges to override certain executive branch policies. According to Fox News, the decision allows the administration to move forward with ending TPS for Somalis, potentially setting the stage for deportation of thousands of migrants who lack another lawful basis to remain in the U.S.
TPS, created by Congress in 1990, provides critical protection to individuals fleeing countries plagued by armed conflict or natural disasters, allowing them to remain and work in the U.S. because returning home would be unsafe.
The administration announced in January its intention to terminate Somalia’s TPS designation, with then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stating that conditions in the country had improved enough to end the humanitarian protections. A lawsuit brought by four Somali nationals and two advocacy groups challenged that decision, prompting Judge Burroughs to issue a stay.
However, the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Mullin v. Doe held that the TPS statute prevents judicial review of certain non-constitutional decisions by the administration, including the termination of TPS designations. As Fox News reported, the ruling curtailed lower courts’ ability to review Trump administration efforts to end TPS for nationals of multiple countries. Burroughs wrote that she was “bound … to view things through the Mullin prism,” according to the outlet’s coverage.
In her ruling, the judge acknowledged that the plaintiffs had made a “convincing showing” that they would suffer “irreparable harm” if TPS status were removed. But despite those findings, she cited the Supreme Court’s decision and lifted the stay.
The plaintiffs had argued that the administration’s decision was driven by bias against non-white immigrants, pointing to Trump’s past descriptions of Somalis as “garbage” and “low IQ people.”
According to sources at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services cited by Fox News Digital, 2,471 Somali nationals in the U.S. currently hold TPS, while another 1,383 have applied for that status.
Somalia is one of four African countries — along with Cameroon, Ethiopia, and South Sudan — where the Trump administration has ended TPS status. The addition of these countries brings the total number of affected nations in the latest wave of TPS terminations to 13, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Myanmar, as reported by Business Insider.
“The latest move is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to unwind TPS designations that have protected hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals from deportation,” Business Insider reported.
The ruling marks a significant win for the administration, which has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of its agenda. For the Somali nationals affected, the decision could mean the loss of legal status and potential deportation if they cannot secure another lawful basis to remain in the U.S.
Legal experts note that the Supreme Court’s Mullin decision has effectively narrowed the avenues for judicial challenge to TPS terminations, leaving affected communities with fewer recourse options. Advocacy groups have expressed concerns over the humanitarian impact, while administration officials argue that conditions in the affected countries have improved sufficiently to warrant the changes.
As the administration moves forward with ending TPS for Somalia and other nations, the practical consequences for thousands of individuals and families remain to be seen. The decision also sets a precedent for how courts will handle similar challenges to other TPS terminations in the future.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/16/obama-appointed-judge-defers-to-supreme-court-ruling-gives-trump-a-somali-deportation-win/