Appeals Panel Hands Trump Two TPS Immigration Wins

A federal appeals court panel handed President Donald Trump two immigration victories this week, reversing district court orders that had temporarily blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from South Sudan and Ethiopia. The rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit come amid a nationwide legal battle over the administration’s push to end the humanitarian protections following a landmark Supreme Court decision.

Context

Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian designation Congress created in 1990, allowing nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work in the United States temporarily. Roughly 1.3 million people from 17 countries were enrolled in the program as of March 2025, according to the Congressional Research Service. The First Circuit’s rulings flow from the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision in Mullin v. Doe, which held 6-3 that the TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims challenging the secretary of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate a country’s designation. That ruling cleared the way for ending protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians and left other designations at risk.

The Rulings

In nearly identical summary orders issued Wednesday, a three-judge panel composed of Biden appointees Judges Julie Rikelman and Seth Aframe, along with Trump appointee Judge Joshua Dunlap, reversed administrative stays entered by U.S. District Judge Patti Saris, who had paused the termination for South Sudan, and U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who had paused it for Ethiopia. Both judges said the stays were meant to “preserve the status quo” while plaintiffs sought to amend their complaints to add constitutional claims.

As Fox News reported, the panel concluded the lower courts’ orders conflicted with the Supreme Court’s precedent: “Mullin held that ‘the TPS statute’s judicial-review bar applies to all non-constitutional claims’ challenging the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determination with respect to the termination of a TPS designation… Claims of that nature were the only basis for the postponement order on appeal. Accordingly, the government’s request for summary reversal is allowed.”

The lawsuits were brought by African Communities Together, a New York-based immigrant advocacy organization, alongside individual TPS recipients from Ethiopia and South Sudan. Plaintiffs argue the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully ended the protections in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution, alleging the agency failed to properly assess conditions in the two countries and that the decisions were racially motivated.

Reaction

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital the rulings were “a win for the rule of law and common sense,” adding: “Temporary Protected Status is exactly that — temporary. For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent.”

Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan called them “clear wins for President Trump following his big win at the U.S. Supreme Court,” adding that “we’re moving towards the end of this litigation because district courts should not be hearing these disputes.”

But DHS General Counsel James Percival, who had branded Murphy and Saris “rogue” and accused them of “mutiny” and “open defiance” of the Supreme Court, cautioned that the fight may continue. As The Federalist noted, Percival said on X that while the reversal was a “great win to be sure,” Saris “already indicated that she would enter a new order postponing the termination on remand. That is the absurdity we are facing.”

Analysis: A Wider Legal Fight

The First Circuit rulings are part of broader litigation touching TPS designations for Haiti, Syria, Burma, Somalia, and Yemen. CNN reported that nearly 10,000 people from South Sudan, Burma, Ethiopia, and Yemen combined benefit from TPS, and that advocates have pursued two strategies since the Supreme Court ruling: recasting procedural claims as constitutional due-process arguments under the Fifth Amendment, and an “ultra vires” argument that the authority to terminate TPS was never transferred from the attorney general to the DHS secretary.

Elsewhere, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago barred the administration from ending TPS for Burma through at least August 7, while Judge Ana Reyes in Washington is overseeing the Haitian case, where plaintiffs are seeking discovery to substantiate equal-protection claims — a door the Supreme Court left open.

Shane Kadidal, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights challenging the Yemen termination, told CNN the decision “triggered an even bigger frenzy of litigation,” adding: “If the overarching theme of the second Trump administration is chaos, this is going to bring even more chaos.”

What’s Next

For TPS holders from South Sudan and Ethiopia, the immediate question is whether Saris and Murphy will accept amended complaints asserting constitutional claims — and how the administration responds. As Wessan put it: “If they want to let the plaintiffs amend their complaint, they’re allowed to do that, but in the meantime, TPS is over.”

With roughly 1.3 million people enrolled in TPS nationwide, the rulings signal that the administration intends to press its immigration agenda through the courts — and that the legal battle over the program’s scope is far from settled.