The Department of Homeland Security is planning to terminate Temporary Protected Status for nationals of South Sudan imminently, CBS News has exclusively learned. The change will end more than a decade of protection that allowed thousands of displaced South Sudanese nationals to live and work legally in the United States.
According to DHS officials, the decision by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem came after consultation with the State Department and other federal agencies.
Despite recent warnings from the United Nations and other organizations that South Sudan could actually be slipping back into a state of open warfare, DHS officials pointed to the end of an armed conflict, improved diplomatic relations and South Sudan’s expressed commitment to reintegrating any returning nationals, adding that continuing the TPS designation for South Sudan would be “contrary” to U.S. interests.
The designation lapsed on November 3, 2025, and a DHS official tells CBS News that a formal notice of termination will be published in the Federal Register later this week, triggering a 60-day grace period for South Sudanese nationals to depart the country or face deportation once their status officially expires in January. DHS estimates that roughly 5,000 South Sudanese nationals are currently living in the United States.
Over the past 14 years, under the program, South Sudanese nationals who could not safely return to their home country due to armed conflict and environmental disaster were shielded from deportation and allowed to work legally in the U.S. The designation dated back to a period of rampant instability that began when the young nation first gained its independence in 2011. Multiple presidential administrations had since extended the program.
South Sudan’s TPS designation was most recently renewed for 18 months, from November 4, 2023, to May 3, 2025, by then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in South Sudan that prevent individuals from safely returning.” It was then extended automatically for six months, through November 3, after DHS did not complete a required review before a statutory 60-day window passed.
The termination marks a significant shift in U.S. policy toward South Sudan, a country still struggling to recover from years of civil war and humanitarian crises. While DHS says conditions have improved, humanitarian groups and regional experts caution that peace remains fragile, with deepening economic distress creating challenges for any safe return.
