FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2025
Contact: Assefash Makonnen, press@africans.us
ADVOCATES SAY LIMITED EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR SOUTH SUDAN IS NOT ENOUGH
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On May 2, 2025, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a 6-month automatic extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan. This announcement was made nearly two months after the statutory deadline of March 3, 2025. This limited 6-month extension does not reflect the situation in South Sudan. South Sudan is currently facing multiple crises, including escalating armed conflict, mass displacement, severe drought and climate-related shocks, and critical food insecurity. The State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for South Sudan and begun evacuating non-emergency personnel. These conditions clearly meet the legal criteria and warrant a full extension of TPS. This limited extension only prolongs the uncertainty faced by South Sudanese TPS holders.
In February 2025, African Communities Together and 62 other organizations issued a letter to the administration urging the DHS Secretary, Secretary Kristi Noem to redesignate and extend TPS for South Sudan for 18 months. A redesignation and full, 18-month extension of TPS would provide meaningful relief to South Sudanese nationals currently living in the U.S., shielding them from deportation and allowing them to work legally.
“This limited extension of TPS for South Sudanese individuals creates uncertainty for our community members and leaves them in a precarious situation. We believe our South Sudanese brothers and sisters deserve the full protection offered by TPS,”said Nils Kinuani, Federal Policy Manager at African Communities Together.
TPS is a designation that provides life-saving protection to non-citizens in the United States, including undocumented immigrants, who cannot safely return to their home country. It provides essential benefits including work authorization and protection from deportation. Both the Biden and Trump Administrations have previously extended Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, based on ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.
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African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter.