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A U.S. federal appeals court has overturned lower court orders that had blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudanese and Ethiopian nationals, according to Fox News Media.

The ruling was issued last Wednesday and reported by Fox News Media on 31 July, after the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that two district court judges had exceeded their authority by temporarily halting the termination of TPS.

According to Fox News Media, the three-judge panel ruled that the lower court decisions conflicted with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Mullin v. Doe, which held that “the TPS statute’s judicial-review bar applies to all non-constitutional claims” challenging the Secretary of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate TPS.

The appeals court overturned separate rulings by U.S. District Judges Brian Murphy and Patti Saris, who had temporarily preserved TPS for migrants from South Sudan and Ethiopia while considering constitutional challenges brought by immigrant advocacy groups.

The legal challenge was filed by African Communities Together, alongside individual TPS holders from South Sudan and Ethiopia. The plaintiffs argue that the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully ended the protections, failed to properly assess conditions in both countries and acted in a discriminatory manner.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security welcomed the ruling, saying, “Temporary Protected Status is exactly that—temporary. For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent.”

According to Fox News Media, the appeals court decision allows the Trump administration to proceed with ending TPS for South Sudanese and Ethiopian beneficiaries while constitutional claims raised by the plaintiffs continue through the courts.

Temporary Protected Status allows eligible nationals of designated countries affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States for a limited period. The latest ruling means South Sudanese beneficiaries could lose those protections unless further court action or administrative measures intervene.