A federal judge in Massachusetts told the Trump administration Tuesday that she will not rush her decision on whether to allow the end of deportation protections for more than 700 Somali nationals, accusing the Department of Homeland Security of “shameful cruelty” for wanting to skip a transition period before deportations begin.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by President Obama, made the comments in a written order responding to DHS’s request for a faster timeline in the case, which concerns Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, The Washington Times reports. TPS allows migrants from countries facing war, natural disaster or other instability to live and work in the U.S. without facing deportation, even if they entered illegally or overstayed a visa.
Burroughs had blocked the administration’s move to end TPS for Somalia, then paused the case while the Supreme Court considered similar disputes over TPS terminations for Haiti and Syria. The justices ruled in late June that courts should generally defer to the executive branch on TPS decisions unless a case raises major constitutional questions, and found the administration did not act with disqualifying racist intent in ending protections for those two countries.
With the Somalia case back in her courtroom, DHS asked Burroughs to move quickly, objecting to what it called a “sluggish briefing schedule” and arguing against building in a “wind down period” before deportations could proceed.
Burroughs rejected the request in blunt terms. “Leaving aside the shameful cruelty inherent in eschewing a ‘wind down period’ for people under threat of deportation, many of whom are productive members of our communities who have lived here for years, built a life here, worked here and raised their families here, the court is mindful of both the Supreme Court ruling and the recent First Circuit judgment in this case,” she wrote.
She added that she would not “abdicate its responsibility to make thoughtful, well-reasoned decisions after affording all parties a full and fair opportunity to be heard.” Burroughs said the plaintiffs challenging the Somalia TPS termination have raised legal issues distinct from those already decided by the Supreme Court and are entitled to argue them in full.
The Somalia dispute is one of several TPS fights still working through federal courts. Last month, fellow Massachusetts Judge Nathaniel Gorton barred the Trump administration from canceling work permits for migrants from El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine who hold TPS status, a separate ruling from the Somalia case now before Burroughs.
TPS for Somalia has shielded migrants from deportation since the designation was granted over the country’s ongoing instability. DHS has pushed to end the protections as part of the administration’s broader effort to wind down Biden-era immigration designations.
