President Donald Trump’s administration has cleared a major legal hurdle in its effort to revoke temporary deportation protections for thousands of Afghan and Cameroonian nationals living in the United States, following a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In a unanimous decision issued Monday, the court denied an emergency motion to halt the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals from the two countries—paving the way for deportations to resume. The ruling comes as the administration moves forward with what it says is a legally justified effort to wind down TPS programs that were extended during the Biden years.
While the panel of judges acknowledged that the immigration advocacy group CASA, Inc. had presented a “plausible claim for relief” regarding the administration’s decision-making process, they concluded that there was not enough evidence at this stage to justify the “extraordinary remedy” of stopping the Trump administration’s actions while litigation continues.
“We agree with the district court that CASA, Inc. has stated a plausible claim for relief… and that the balance of equities and public interest weigh in CASA’s favor,” the court wrote. “However, at this procedural posture, there is insufficient evidence to warrant a postponement of agency action pending appeal.”
The three-judge panel—composed of Judges Roger Gregory, Robert Bruce King, and Nicole Berner—urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to act “expeditiously” in resolving the case to avoid prolonged uncertainty for the thousands of TPS recipients at risk of removal.
CASA filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem in early May after news emerged that TPS protections for Afghans and Cameroonians would be rescinded. The nonprofit alleges that the termination decisions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and were racially motivated, calling the revocations part of a “preordained decision directed by the President… to reduce the number of nonwhite immigrants in this country.”
The Trump administration, however, maintains that TPS is meant to be temporary by definition, and that the Secretary of Homeland Security has broad discretion to decide when designations should be ended or extended.
Afghanistan’s TPS designation was initially set to expire on May 20 and Cameroon’s on June 7, but both were later extended to July 14 and August 4, respectively, in compliance with federal law requiring at least 60 days’ notice before termination becomes effective.
The case had temporarily paused deportations after a lower court judge granted a short-lived stay. But with the Fourth Circuit’s ruling on Monday, that delay has now expired—leaving approximately 11,700 Afghan nationals and 5,200 Cameroonian nationals vulnerable to immediate deportation.
Though the court allowed the administration to proceed, it emphasized that affected individuals may still pursue alternative avenues for relief, such as asylum or withholding of removal.
TPS is typically granted to nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict or environmental disasters. Despite the administration’s position that conditions have improved, both Afghanistan and Haiti currently carry “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisories from the U.S. State Department, while Cameroon is listed as “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” due to violence and unrest.
President Trump has made large-scale immigration enforcement—including the termination of certain TPS programs—a cornerstone of his second-term agenda. Critics argue that the administration is using bureaucratic tools to pursue mass deportations under the guise of policy reform.
The lawsuit remains pending in district court, where CASA will continue to argue that the TPS rollbacks are not only unlawful but discriminatory. The appeals court left open the possibility that a stay could still be granted in the future, depending on how the case progresses.
