A federal judge in Boston has cleared the path for the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to strip legal protections from nearly 1,100 Somali nationals living and working in the United States. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs lifted a previous block on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allowing the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia to move forward.
The decision follows a broader legal trend shaped by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The high court’s 6-3 conservative majority ruled that the statutory framework governing TPS restricts the ability of lower federal courts to review non-constitutional decisions made by the executive branch to end humanitarian immigration designations. This precedent directly constrained Judge Burroughs, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, who noted that she was legally bound to view the case through the framework established by the Supreme Court.
The legal battle began after former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced plans to terminate TPS designations for several nations, arguing that conditions in those countries had improved sufficiently. In the case of Somalia, the administration pointed to changing circumstances despite ongoing internal conflict involving Somali forces and militant groups like al-Shabaab.
In response, four Somali nationals and advocacy organizations, including African Communities Together, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the termination. The plaintiffs argued that the administration’s decision was infected by bias and discrimination against non-white immigrants, citing past inflammatory remarks made by President Trump regarding Somalis. Although Judge Burroughs previously issued temporary stays to protect the affected population from immediate deportation and loss of work authorization, the recent Supreme Court guidance fundamentally shifted the legal landscape.
While acknowledging the severe hardships and potential risks faced by those losing their protected status, Judge Burroughs concluded that the high court’s limitations on judicial review left little room to maintain the block. With this latest ruling, the termination of TPS for Somalia joins similar administrative actions targeting other countries, leaving only a few remaining humanitarian designations contested in the federal court system.
