Overview
- U.S. District Judge Patti Saris halted the administration’s plan to end Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, finding Noem likely acted unlawfully and relied on a pretextual rationale.
- The case was brought by South Sudanese nationals and African Communities Together after a prior judge delayed the termination to allow full review.
- Separate reporting says nine people were flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Cameroon on January 14 without prior notice of their destination and were shackled during transport.
- Attorneys and documents cited by the New York Times indicate most of the deportees had U.S. court protections and none was Cameroonian, with no public U.S. agreement showing Cameroon would accept them.
- Several deportees say they are confined at a state-run site in Yaoundé and told to return to their home countries, highlighting transparency and due-process concerns in third-country removals.