In a judgment entered on July 29, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled in favour of the U.S. government in a case brought by advocacy group African Communities Together and several South Sudanese TPS beneficiaries identified in court documents as Mary Doe, David Doe, Peter Doe and Jacob Doe.
The plaintiffs had challenged the government’s decision to end TPS for South Sudan and had successfully obtained a lower-court order delaying its termination while the case was being heard.
However, the appeals court overturned that decision on Wednesday, allowing the Trump administration to move forward with ending the immigration protection.
The three-judge panel, comprising Circuit Judges Rikelman, Aframe and Dunlap, said its decision was guided by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Mullin v. Doe.
The court noted that it had previously declined the government’s request to immediately suspend the lower court’s order while the appeal was pending. After receiving additional legal arguments, however, the judges concluded that the district court’s postponement of the TPS termination could no longer stand in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.
According to the judgment, the Supreme Court held that the TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims challenging the Homeland Security Secretary’s decision to terminate a country’s TPS designation.
The appeals court stated that the arguments presented by the plaintiffs fell within that category and therefore could not serve as a legal basis for delaying the government’s action.
“We now reverse the postponement order in light of Mullin v. Doe,” the court wrote in its judgment seen by Sudans Post, adding that the Supreme Court had determined “the TPS statute’s judicial-review bar applies to all non-constitutional claims” challenging the secretary’s determination regarding the termination of TPS.
Temporary Protected Status allows nationals of countries affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States for a designated period. South Sudan has remained under TPS for years due to ongoing instability and humanitarian concerns.
The appeals court’s ruling does not itself order the immediate removal of South Sudanese TPS holders. Instead, it lifts the legal barrier that had prevented DHS from implementing its decision to terminate the designation.
However, unless further legal action succeeds or the U.S. government announces a new policy, the Department of Homeland Security is now free to proceed with ending TPS protections for eligible South Sudanese nationals in accordance with its established timeline.
