- USCIS officially terminated employment authorization for Somali nationals under Temporary Protected Status on August 14, 2026.
- Employment cards with category codes A12 or C19 are no longer valid regardless of original expiration dates.
- A Supreme Court ruling confirmed TPS terminations are not subject to judicial review, ending several months of litigation.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ended employment authorization for Somali nationals covered by Temporary Protected Status on August 14, closing a litigation-driven series of short extensions for their work permits.
The agency said EADs marked with category codes A12 or C19 are no longer valid after that date. The affected cards include those originally expiring on March 17, 2023, September 17, 2024, and March 17, 2026.
The termination followed a federal court order in Massachusetts that cleared the way for the government to end the program. USCIS had previously adjusted the employment-authorized-through date several times while the case moved through the courts.
The latest date was August 14. Employers must now rely on other evidence of current authorization.
Somali nationals who held only a TPS-based EAD cannot continue working with that card. They need another immigration status or an independent employment authorization category.
USCIS said employers “cannot continue employing a person who does not provide proof of current employment authorization.” The warning applies to workers and companies handling Form I-9 and E-Verify records.
The court ended protection after months of temporary extensions
Somalia’s TPS designation ended August 14, 2026, after a series of conflicting court actions. The program had originally been scheduled to terminate March 17, 2026.
On March 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts stayed the termination. The stay temporarily preserved protection while litigation continued.
USCIS later listed successive employment-authorized-through dates, including August 3, August 5, August 10, August 12, and August 14, 2026. Each update tracked the changing status of the case.
The court case is African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 26-cv-11201. A stay briefly protected beneficiaries through August 12, 2026, before the court lifted the administrative stay on August 14.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs acknowledged that plaintiffs would “suffer irreparable harm.” She also wrote that she was “bound. to view things through the Mullin prism” after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
That ruling came June 25, 2026, in Mullin v. Doe. The decision, listed as 609 U.S. __, established that the secretary of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate TPS is not subject to judicial review.
The termination appeared in the Federal Register as “Termination of the Designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status,” 91 Fed. Reg. 1547 (Jan. 14, 2026).
Employers must distinguish the old cards from current authorization
The affected workers used Employment Authorization Documents identified by A12 or C19. Those categories covered the cards connected to Somalia TPS.
The cards no longer establish permission to work after August 14. A separate document or status must support any continued employment.
| Original EAD expiration date | Category affected | Status after August 14, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| March 17, 2023 | A12 or C19 | No longer valid |
| September 17, 2024 | A12 or C19 | No longer valid |
| March 17, 2026 | A12 or C19 | No longer valid |
During the court proceedings, employers were instructed to use the court-ordered expiration date in Form I-9 and E-Verify. That temporary instruction ended with the termination.
The relevant documents are Forms I-766, the physical employment authorization cards. A later date that appeared in USCIS systems during the litigation does not preserve a TPS-based card after the program’s end.
USCIS guidance also places the next verification step on employers. A company must establish that the worker has current employment authorization before continuing the employment relationship.
The number affected depends on how applicants are counted
Estimates cited during the dispute range from 705 approved beneficiaries to 2,471 people when pending applicants are included. Another estimate put the affected population at approximately 1,100 Somali nationals.
Those figures use different counting methods. The termination affects approved TPS beneficiaries with the specified EAD categories, while a broader count includes people whose applications remained pending.
Somalia first received TPS in 1991 because of civil war. The country then went through multiple extensions and redesignations over 35 years.
The current administration began winding down the program in late 2025 as part of a broader immigration policy shift. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem formalized the termination in January 2026.
Noem said conditions in Somalia “no longer support its designation.” She also said allowing Somali nationals to remain was “contrary to the national interest.”
Following the Supreme Court decision, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described TPS as “temporary protection” rather than a permanent immigration status.
DHS General Counsel James Percival called the earlier court stays “defiance, obstruction, and delay” of the administration’s immigration agenda.
Beneficiaries without another status face immigration consequences
Losing the EAD does not itself create a new work authorization category. It removes the TPS-based permission that supported employment.
A person with another valid basis for employment can continue using that independent authorization. Someone without one cannot rely on the former TPS card.
Beneficiaries who lack another legal status, including a pending asylum claim or a different visa, may revert to their previous status and face deportation proceedings. The immigration consequences depend on each person’s separate case.
Advocacy organizations have warned of a broader humanitarian effect. African Communities Together and Muslim Advocates filed lawsuits challenging the termination as discriminatory.
Assefash Makonnen, an ACT representative, condemned the decision and pointed to the continuing humanitarian crisis and armed conflict in Somalia. Advocacy groups said the termination could push families into “legal limbo” and potentially separate parents from U.S. citizen children.
The litigation also drew political opposition. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) threatened on August 1, 2026, to file Articles of Impeachment against Judge Burroughs, calling her initial stay “unconstitutional Judicial Activism.”
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown led a 16-state coalition that filed an amicus brief. The coalition said:
“We won’t stand by while this Administration tears families apart and sends our neighbors back to one of the most dangerous countries on earth”
The court nevertheless allowed the termination to take effect August 14. The date now controls the validity of the TPS-linked work permits.
Somali nationals seeking to remain employed must use authorization that does not depend on the ended program. The previous EAD extensions no longer provide that basis.
