The administrative stay does not address the case\u2019s underlying legal merits. A final decision in the case will be determined after the judge receives all written briefings from both sides by Jan. 13, 2026.
\n\u201cBecause of the serious consequences at stake, both for the Plaintiffs and the Defendants, the Court finds an administrative stay appropriate, as it would \u2018minimize harm,\u2019 while allowing the assigned District Court Judge the time this case deserves,\u201d Kelley wrote in her ruling.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s decision to terminate TPS for South Sudan was slated to take effect at midnight on Jan. 6.
\nIn a statement to the Washington Examiner, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the judge and justified the termination, citing the need to improve conditions in South Sudan.
\n\u201cYet another lawless and activist order from the federal judiciary who continues to usurp the President\u2019s constitutional authority,\u201d she said. \u201cUnder the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation. TPS was never designed to be permanent. 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.\u201d
\nThere are about 232 South Sudanese nationals who currently hold lawful status in the U.S. under the temporary deportation protections, and another 73 who have pending applications.
\nThe plaintiffs argued that the termination would put the nationals at risk of deportation and potentially cause irreparable harm. The judge agreed, citing a risk of \u201cdeadly harm\u201d if South Sudanese TPS holders returned to their native country.
\nSouth Sudan is currently mired in ongoing violence and a severe humanitarian crisis despite a 2018 peace agreement. The nation gained independence in 2011 after decadeslong civil wars with Sudan. The conflicts were driven, in part, by religious differences. South Sudan is mainly Christian, while Sudan is predominantly Muslim.
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\nIn November, Noem determined that the conditions in South Sudan no longer met the TPS statutory requirements and that allowing South Sudanese nationals to remain in the U.S. temporarily was contrary to national interests.
\nDHS is facing numerous lawsuits after ending TPS for immigrants from many countries, including Afghanistan and Haiti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The administrative stay does not address the case\u2019s underlying legal merits. A final decision in the case will be determined<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.demoviewer4.com\/keith-ponder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}