From the official announcement by USCIS ↗
According to a notice from the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) on July 30, 2026, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudanese citizens has officially been terminated, after former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined that the country no longer met protection conditions. The decision was announced in the Federal Register on November 6, 2025, with the original termination date set for January 5, 2026.
However, things did not proceed as planned. On December 30, 2025, the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued an order halting the TPS termination in the case of African Communities Together v. Noem. Thanks to this order, work permits (Employment Authorization Documents) with original expiration dates of November 3, 2023, May 3, 2025, or November 3, 2025 were automatically extended.
The work permit extension is only a temporary measure, not a lasting restoration of TPS.
Why this is only a temporary solution
This is not a long-term TPS restoration. USCIS made clear that the work permit extension is merely a temporary measure, pending lower court adjustments following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Mullin v. Doe, issued on June 25, 2026. That ruling, according to Newsweek, was a 6-3 decision allowing the Department of Homeland Security to terminate protection for approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, opening the door to other TPS terminations nationwide.
Who is affected and what they must do
South Sudanese individuals holding TPS, as well as the employers who hire them, are the two groups directly impacted. For employers, USCIS requires that when re-filing Form I-9 for South Sudanese employees in this category, they must write "as per court order" in Part 1 and the date "8/6/2026" in Part 2, along with a note in the Additional Information box. When verifying through the E-Verify system, the expiration date must also be entered as 8/6/2026.
Confusion over timelines is not unique to South Sudan. According to the New York Times, deadlines related to TPS terminations are continuously changing, making it difficult for businesses to track employee records. In reality, when Haiti's TPS expired in early July 2026, some employers in Florida laid off workers before USCIS announced an extension, according to the Sun-Sentinel — showing that a similar risk could occur with South Sudanese workers if businesses do not quickly update the new regulations.
TPS, in essence, is a temporary status allowing people from countries facing crises to remain legally in the United States, work, and avoid deportation, according to the City of Philadelphia's guidance document on the program — but it does not lead to a green card or citizenship. See USCIS's official notice at the source link below.
Analysis
South Sudan represents one small link in a large wave of TPS terminations under the Trump administration, targeting at least 13 countries over the past year. The Supreme Court's Mullin v. Doe ruling in June 2026 removed the last legal barrier preventing the administration from acting, making lower court stays increasingly precarious. Immigration attorney Allen Orr called this one of the largest stripping of legal status in modern U.S. workforce history. The pattern mirrors Haiti's experience, when a two-week extension order was issued only days before the deadline, revealing the template: the administration sets a deadline, courts intervene, then USCIS grants short-term extensions case by case — rather than establishing a stable long-term policy for TPS holders.
Diaspora Impact
South Sudanese TPS holders in the United States should check the original expiration date on their work permit — if it falls on November 3, 2023, May 3, 2025, or November 3, 2025, the permit is considered valid until August 6, 2026 under the court order. Employers hiring people in this category need to immediately update Form I-9 and the E-Verify system according to USCIS's new guidance to avoid wrongfully terminating employment contracts. Workers should keep copies of notices and monitor uscis.gov for updates, as this legal status may continue to shift depending on further court developments.