The Trump administration is ending the temporary protected status for South Sudanese nationals that has been in place for more than a decade, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice published on Wednesday as reported by Reuters news agency.

Nationals from South Sudan have a 60-day grace period to leave the United States before facing deportation starting in early January, DHS said in the notice on their designation status, which expired on Monday.

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to strip legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants from a number of countries since taking office in January as part of his broad immigration crackdown and “America First” agenda.

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.

The TPS program is a humanitarian designation under U.S. law for countries stricken by war, natural disaster or other catastrophes, allowing recipients living in the United States protection from deportation and access to work permits.

South Sudan has faced repeated cycle of violent conflict since 2011, with a civil war between 2013 and 2018 leaving 400,000 people dead.