South Sudanese nationals lose US protected status

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 US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice published on Wednesday. SABC News reports that nationals from South Sudan have a 60-day grace period to leave the US before facing deportation starting in early January, DHS said in the notice on their designation status, which expired on Monday. 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. The TPS programme is a humanitarian designation under US law for countries stricken by war, natural disaster or other catastrophes, allowing recipients living in the US protection from deportation and access to work permits. South Sudan has faced repeated bouts of violent conflict since 2011, with a civil war between 2013 and 2018 leaving 400 000 people dead. DHS in its notice on Wednesday said South Sudan no longer met the conditions for the designation.