Over 300 South Sudanese face loss of US deportation protection

Hundreds of South Sudanese nationals living in the United States face losing protection from deportation after a federal judge rejected a legal challenge against the termination of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The ruling allows the US government to proceed with ending the protection, which currently enables eligible South Sudanese to live and work legally in the country.

Those who lose TPS and have no other valid immigration status could face immigration proceedings, detention or deportation. The move affects more than 232 people with existing protection and at least 73 others with pending applications.

The case was brought by a group of South Sudanese nationals and immigrant rights organisation African Communities Together, which challenged the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate the protection.

However, US District Judge Patti Saris rejected the challenge, finding that Congress transferred the relevant immigration powers to DHS when the department was established in 2002. Saris also dismissed arguments that only the US Attorney General could extend or terminate TPS, ruling that accepting such a claim would undermine the legal basis on which South Sudan was originally granted the protection.

“As a logical matter, plaintiffs’ arguments rest upon a self-contradictory, self-defeating foundation,” Saris wrote in her Friday ruling, according to The Guardian.

The decision has raised concern among immigrant rights groups, who argue that returning South Sudanese at a time of continued violence and displacement could put vulnerable people at risk.

The US first designated South Sudan for TPS in 2011, allowing eligible nationals to remain temporarily because of security conditions in the country. In November 2025, DHS moved to end the designation on grounds that South Sudan no longer met the conditions for TPS.

An earlier court order had temporarily prevented the termination, prompting the latest legal challenge after a June US Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the government to end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians.

South Sudan, meanwhile, continues to face political instability and violence that have displaced millions since independence. More than 400,000 people have been killed in conflict since 2011, while humanitarian needs remain high.