Trans-Pacific View | Society | Southeast Asia

Myanmar Nationals Face Deportation From US After Court Ruling

The ruling follows a Supreme Court decision in June that limited courts’ ability to challenge TPS designations.

A U.S. federal judge has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to end temporary protected status (TPS) for nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar, presaging their possible arrest and deportation.

In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois rejected last-minute efforts by immigrant rights advocates to maintain the TPS designations. The ruling came just hours after a federal judge in Boston handed down a similar ruling rejecting a challenge from an immigrant-advocacy organization against the removal of TPS status from around 232 South Sudanese nationals.

Both rulings referenced a U.S. Supreme Court decision from June, which ruled that the administration had the authority to end similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria. The Supreme Court ruling limited lower courts’ ability to block DHS’ efforts to end TPS for people from roughly a dozen countries, arguing that federal judges had no authority to weigh in on a challenge to TPS terminations.

TPS was created by the U.S. Congress in 1990, and protects non-U.S. citizens from deportation to countries facing armed conflict or other crises posing a threat to their safety. It also grants them authorization to work in the U.S.

The TPS designation for Myanmar was granted for the first time after the 2021 military coup, which was followed by a nationwide uprising against military rule. The ongoing civil war and military repression have wrecked Myanmar’s economy, displaced more than 3.5 million people, and pushed tens of thousands more to flee the country. There are around 4,000 Myanmar nationals currently in the U.S. under the TPS program.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked TPS status for Myanmar in November of last year, citing the military junta’s upcoming elections as evidence that the country had “made notable progress in governance and stability.” The TPS designation........

© The Diplomat