Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Somali nationals is set to end after a federal judge in Massachusetts lifted the stay that had kept the program alive. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued the order on August 14, 2026, handing the Trump administration a significant win in its yearslong effort to terminate the designation.
The decision closes out months of legal back-and-forth that began when former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first announced the termination on January 13, 2026. It now clears a path for the government to move forward with ending protections that Somali nationals have held since 1991.
What the Ruling Actually Says
Judge Burroughs did not dispute the hardship the termination would cause. Her order acknowledged the “life-altering consequences” the decision would have for Somali TPS holders and their families.
Still, she found herself bound by a higher authority. The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026, ruling in Mullin v. Doe held that the TPS statute’s judicial-review bar prevents courts from second-guessing a Homeland Security secretary’s designation and termination decisions. That precedent, which had already allowed the administration to end TPS for Haiti and Syria, left little room for the Massachusetts court to block the Somalia termination on statutory grounds.
Burroughs did allow the plaintiffs to pursue constitutional claims, including allegations of racial discrimination. She wrote that the record showed “undisguised racial animus” behind the termination but concluded that, under the Mullin precedent, the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on those claims either. Without a strong likelihood of success, the court could not justify blocking the termination through a preliminary injunction.
Who Is Affected
The termination applies to a relatively small but deeply rooted population. Roughly 700 Somali nationals currently hold TPS across the country, with several hundred concentrated in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali community in the United States.
Key figures tied to the case include the following:
- Total Somali TPS holders nationwide: approximately 700
- Somali TPS holders in Minnesota: several hundred, out of an estimated 79,000 Somali residents statewide
- Original designation date: September 1991
- Termination announcement: January 13, 2026
- Original termination date: March 17, 2026
- First stay issued: March 13, 2026
- Renewed stay after amended complaint: July 31, 2026
- Stay lifted, clearing termination: August 14, 2026
Most Somali Minnesotans are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and will not be directly affected. The people facing the most immediate consequences are longtime TPS holders, some of whom have lived and worked in the United States since the late 1990s and have U.S. citizen family members.
How the Case Got Here
Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status designation had been renewed repeatedly for 35 years, largely due to ongoing conflict, famine, and instability in the country. That changed when Noem determined that Somalia no longer met the legal conditions required for the designation.
The administration’s announcement came shortly after reports of an alleged fraud scheme involving Minnesota social service programs, which officials said totaled roughly $9 billion and reportedly implicated members of the Somali community. Minnesota officials have disputed elements of the allegations, and the fraud investigation remains separate from the TPS litigation itself.
Advocacy groups pushed back immediately. African Communities Together, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, and four individual Somali community members filed suit, arguing the termination discriminated based on race and national origin and violated due process protections. They also claimed the DHS official who signed off on the termination lacked the legal authority to do so.
The case produced a winding sequence of court actions:
- DHS announced the termination on January 13, 2026, effective March 17, 2026.
- Judge Burroughs issued an administrative stay on March 13, 2026, days before the deadline.
- Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on July 30, 2026, adding new due process and authority-based claims.
- Burroughs issued a renewed stay on July 31, 2026, after the amended filing.
- On August 14, 2026, Burroughs lifted the stay entirely, allowing the termination to proceed.
The Supreme Court’s Role
The Mullin v. Doe decision looms large over this case. When the Supreme Court sided with the administration in June 2026 on the Haiti and Syria terminations, it effectively narrowed the legal tools available to challenge similar TPS terminations elsewhere. Burroughs cited that decision directly, noting that Somalia’s TPS designation had remained in place for 35 years despite being labeled “temporary,” a detail the Supreme Court’s majority had also highlighted in its own reasoning.
Legal advocates for the plaintiffs argue the ruling still leaves room for future challenges, since Burroughs allowed some constitutional claims to proceed even as she denied emergency relief. The Legal Defense Fund, Muslim Advocates, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, who represent the plaintiffs, have signaled the fight is not necessarily over, even though the immediate stay has been lifted.
What Happens Next for TPS Holders
With the stay lifted, work authorization documents tied to Somalia’s TPS designation are no longer automatically protected under the court order that had extended them. Employment Authorization Documents carrying category codes A12 or C19, previously extended through August 10, 2026, under USCIS guidance, are now subject to the terminated designation.
Immigration attorneys have cautioned that any enforcement action against former TPS holders would still need to comply with due process protections, a point Burroughs emphasized directly in her order. She wrote that removal or detention efforts against former Somali TPS beneficiaries would remain subject to constitutional protections, even though the underlying TPS challenge failed.
Community organizations in Minnesota have urged affected individuals to consult immigration attorneys promptly to explore alternative paths to legal status, including family-based petitions, asylum claims, or other humanitarian relief.
A Broader Pattern
Somalia is not the only country to see its TPS designation targeted during this administration. Haiti, Syria, Myanmar, and South Sudan have all faced similar terminations in recent months, part of a broader push to narrow eligibility for the program nationwide. Advocacy groups have consistently argued these terminations disproportionately affect communities of color, while the administration maintains that country conditions have improved enough to justify ending protections that were never meant to be permanent.
For Somali families who have built lives in Minnesota and beyond over more than three decades, the ruling marks a painful and uncertain turning point, one that will likely continue playing out in courtrooms and communities in the months ahead.
What do you think about the court’s decision on Temporary Protected Status for Somalis? Share your thoughts in the comments below.