A federal judge in Chicago has temporarily prevented the Trump administration from ending deportation protections for migrants from Myanmar, ruling that the decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status - commonly known as TPS - appeared to lack a genuine factual basis.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly issued the order on Friday, blocking the administration from putting an end to TPS for roughly 4,000 Myanmar nationals who live in the United States. The judge postponed the government action that had been scheduled to take effect on Monday and set a hearing in the case for February 6.
In his written findings, Kennelly said the record did not show a credible foundation for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate TPS for people from Myanmar. The judge wrote that it was more plausible that the termination was intended to advance a broader objective of curtailing immigration and eliminating TPS designations in general, rather than reflecting a concrete assessment of changed conditions in Burma.
The court found that the termination appeared to have been made without a review of conditions in Myanmar - a pattern the judge said resembled the administration’s termination of other TPS designations. The judge’s order effectively preserves the temporary protections and work authorization that TPS provides to eligible migrants while the legal challenge proceeds.
The Trump administration had not issued an immediate reaction to Kennelly’s order, the court records indicate.
In November the administration announced it would end temporary legal status for citizens of Myanmar in the United States, arguing that those individuals could safely return to their country. Officials cited the junta-run elections as evidence that conditions had improved.
Those elections have been widely criticized as a sham by the United Nations, many Western countries and human rights organizations, and the U.S. State Department’s most recent human rights report said there were "significant human rights issues" in Myanmar. The administration’s November move prompted concern about the fate of individuals who could be required to return to a country that has seen significant political upheaval since 2021.
Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, ousting a civilian government and prompting a nationwide armed resistance. The deteriorated conditions in the country underpinned arguments by critics that it was unsafe to end TPS for Myanmar nationals.
The judge’s opinion underscored those concerns, stating that the court could not discern a genuine basis for the Secretary’s action in the administrative record. Kennelly explicitly suggested that the termination was more likely a component of a broader immigration policy agenda than a decision grounded in a review of the country’s changing circumstances.
The ruling comes against the backdrop of a broader campaign by the administration to reduce immigration. Since taking office in 2025, the President has pursued a hardline immigration agenda that has included an aggressive deportation drive. Those policies have been criticized by human rights advocates, even as the administration has cited domestic security reasons for its actions.
A series of lawsuits has been filed challenging the administration’s efforts to curtail protections that were extended to citizens of numerous countries through TPS. Under federal law, TPS is intended for people whose home countries are experiencing natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions, and it provides eligible migrants with temporary protection from deportation and authorization to work.
Court decisions have at times delayed or stopped the administration’s efforts to remove these legal protections. For now, the February 6 hearing will provide the next opportunity for the court to examine the legal and factual basis for the termination of TPS for Myanmar and to determine whether the pause on the administration’s action should remain in place while litigation continues.