A Massachusetts federal judge has lifted a temporary stay protecting Somali immigrants with temporary protected status, clearing the way for the Trump administration to end their protections and begin deportations.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, lifted an administrative stay Friday following the Supreme Court ruling in a related case that federal courts lack authority to review the Department of Homeland Security‘s termination of TPS designations.
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The Supreme Court in June cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate TPS protections for Haitian and Syrian nationals, ruling in Mullin v. Doe that federal law generally bars courts from reviewing DHS decisions to end TPS designations.
The court also rejected a challenge arguing that then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation violated the Constitution‘s guarantee of equal protection.
TPS allows nationals of countries facing “extraordinary and temporary conditions,” such as armed conflict or natural disasters, to remain legally in the United States when the government determines that returning them would be unsafe.
Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, but on Jan. 14, 2026, Noem published a notice terminating Somalia’s designation, setting the stage for the current legal challenge.
The plaintiffs filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts on March 9, seeking to block the termination. Burroughs issued an administrative stay four days later, allowing the parties time to develop the case and for the government to produce the administrative record.
The case was paused while the Supreme Court considered Mullin. After the high court issued its ruling June 25, the Trump administration asked Burroughs to reopen the case and lift the stay, arguing that the Supreme Court’s decision provided sufficient guidance to reject the plaintiffs’ challenge.
Burroughs ultimately concluded that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, which she said precluded the issuance of an injunction.
Although she acknowledged that the plaintiffs had made a “convincing showing” that they could suffer irreparable harm if protections were removed, she found that factor insufficient to overcome their failure to establish a likely legal victory.
The plaintiffs had also argued that Trump’s public comments about Somalis could support an equal protection challenge to the administration’s decision.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Somali immigrants, particularly following a major fraud investigation in Minnesota.
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“The Somalians, what they’ve done to Minnesota, the Somalians, crooked as hell,” Trump said, referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). “I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you.”
Trump has also described Somalia as a country with little governmental structure, saying, “They just run around killing each other.”
