Judge Lifts Stay on DHS Plan to End Somalis' TPS

President Donald Trump walked away with a significant legal win Friday after a federal judge opened the door for his team to cut off temporary legal shields for thousands of Somali nationals in America. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston removed a stay that had stopped the Department of Homeland Security from ending Somalia's Temporary Protected Status (TPS). She made this move based on a June Supreme Court ruling that severely restricted courts from reviewing similar government actions. This decision lets the Trump administration proceed with ending TPS for Somalis, which could mean deportation for affected migrants who have no other lawful reason to stay in the United States.

Burroughs, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, had previously blocked this termination in a suit brought by four Somali nationals and two advocacy groups, including African Communities Together. The Trump administration said back in January that it intended to end Somalia's TPS designation. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued conditions in the country had improved enough to drop these humanitarian protections. In June, the Supreme Court decided Mullin v. Doe, ruling that the TPS statute stops judicial review of certain non-constitutional choices by the administration to end TPS designations. The court also found plaintiffs' equal protection challenge unlikely to succeed. This judgment limited lower courts from reviewing Trump administration efforts to end TPS for nationals of multiple countries.

Plaintiffs fighting the termination argued the decision was driven by bias against non-White immigrants, pointing to past comments where Trump called Somalis "garbage" and "low IQ people." After the Supreme Court ruling, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint with new constitutional claims and asked for emergency relief to stop Somalia's TPS protections from ending. Burroughs issued a stay earlier this month after African Communities Together and others alleged the administration violated the Fifth Amendment by ending TPS based on racial and national-origin discrimination. In Friday's order, Burroughs admitted plaintiffs made a compelling case but concluded the Supreme Court decision constrained her power to keep blocking the government action.

Burroughs wrote she was "bound … to view things through the Mullin prism," referring to that high court case. She noted, Plaintiffs have made a convincing showing that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is withheld … and the balance of hardships and the public interest also favor Plaintiffs, given that the government has made no showing that maintaining TPS status for the duration of this litigation would impose an undue burden," she wrote. Even with those findings, she lifted the stay, allowing the administration's termination plan to move forward. The Trump administration's choice impacts several thousand Somali nationals currently living here. Sources at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services previously told Fox News Digital that 2,471 Somali nationals in the U.S. currently have TPS, while another 1,383 have pending applications.