A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to delay its plan to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Myanmar nationals, dealing a setback to the government’s hardline immigration agenda as a legal challenge moves forward.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago blocked the Department of Homeland Security from ending deportation protections for roughly 4,000 Myanmar citizens living in the United States. The judge postponed the termination, which was set to take effect on Monday, and scheduled a hearing for February 6 to further examine the case.

Kennelly said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to provide a genuine or credible basis for ending the protections. In his ruling, the judge questioned whether the decision was actually rooted in conditions inside Myanmar, noting that the record did not support the government’s claims of improvement.

“The Court cannot discern a genuine basis for the Secretary’s action,” Kennelly wrote, adding that it was more plausible the termination was driven by a broader effort to curb immigration and dismantle the TPS program rather than a careful assessment of conditions in Myanmar.

The Trump administration announced in November that it would revoke TPS for Myanmar nationals, arguing that they could safely return despite ongoing conflict. The decision cited military-run elections as evidence of stabilisation, a claim widely disputed by international observers.

According to Reuters, the United Nations, Western governments, and human rights organisations have denounced Myanmar’s election process as a sham, while the U.S. State Department has continued to document “significant human rights issues” in the country.

Myanmar has remained in turmoil since a 2021 military coup ousted the elected civilian government, triggering widespread armed resistance and a brutal crackdown by the junta. Rights groups have warned that forcing migrants to return could expose them to detention, violence, or persecution.

The administration had no immediate response to Friday’s court order. Trump, who returned to office in 2025, has pursued an aggressive immigration enforcement strategy, including efforts to roll back deportation protections for migrants from multiple countries.

Several lawsuits are now challenging those efforts, and courts have repeatedly stepped in to slow or block the removal of TPS designations. Under U.S. law, TPS is granted to nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions, allowing recipients to live and work in the United States temporarily without fear of deportation.

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