- Judge Allison Burroughs lifted the stay on terminating Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status on August fourteenth, twenty twenty-six.
- Employment authorization for hundreds of Somalis is at immediate risk as government implementation moves forward.
- The court cited a Supreme Court precedent, Mullin versus Doe, to justify removing the legal barrier.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration to terminate Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status designation, putting holders’ immigration protection and employment authorization at risk while their lawsuit continues.
The decision came from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Burroughs lifted the order that had blocked the termination, allowing the government to move toward ending the program.
The court fight is not over. African Communities Together and other plaintiffs are challenging the termination in African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 26-cv-11201 (D. Mass.).
USCIS had said the designation and related benefits were scheduled to end on March 17, 2026. A March 13 court order temporarily preserved status, employment authorization and documentation, but that protection now depends on the latest court action.
The agency described the case as active litigation. Holders face an uncertain wait.
The court removed the order preserving the program
Burroughs found that the plaintiffs demonstrated irreparable harm. After the Supreme Court’s June decision in Mullin v. Doe, however, she concluded they had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits sufficient to keep the termination blocked.
That finding removed the legal barrier that had preserved the designation. DHS and USCIS must still take the administrative steps needed to implement the termination unless another court order intervenes.
The ruling does not itself resolve the underlying lawsuit. The plaintiffs may continue proceedings in the district court and could appeal the decision.
“per the court order”
USCIS used that phrase to explain why beneficiaries had continued to keep status and employment authorization during the earlier court-ordered extensions. The agency also said those benefits remained tied to developments in the litigation.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| January 13, 2026 | DHS announced it would terminate Somalia’s designation. |
| March 13, 2026 | The District of Massachusetts issued an order staying the termination. |
| March 17, 2026 | DHS’s scheduled termination date arrived while the stay remained in place. |
| June 25, 2026 | The Supreme Court issued Mullin v. Doe, later cited by DHS and USCIS in describing the litigation posture. |
| August 14, 2026 | Burroughs lifted the block, clearing the way for the administration to end the designation. |
The earlier extensions followed a shifting court schedule. USCIS issued updates on July 24, July 29, August 3, August 5 and August 12, 2026, repeatedly extending employment-document validity for beneficiaries under court orders.
Those extensions no longer provide the same protection after Burroughs lifted the block. A further order could pause implementation again, but the current path points toward DHS and USCIS ending the designation and related employment authorization.
Holders could lose protection after implementation
The immediate risk is not limited to an expiring card. Once the government implements the termination, holders could lose TPS protection and the ability to rely on related employment authorization.
The materials identify no new long-term renewal route for the designation. The legal dispute now centers on whether the termination can be blocked again or overturned through additional district-court proceedings or an appeal.
The number of people affected remains described in different ways. One estimate put the impact at nearly 1,100 Somalis, while another counted about 700 TPS designation holders.
Those figures may reflect different methods of counting people covered by the designation. Both describe a population whose employment documents had remained valid through temporary judicial measures.
USCIS’s public updates framed the extensions as conditional. Beneficiaries could keep status and employment authorization while the court order applied, but the agency tied that continuation to the litigation’s next developments.
The administration’s next implementation step will determine when the termination takes effect in practice. Until then, the plaintiffs’ case and any request for additional judicial relief remain the principal avenues for preserving the designation.
