Prof. Ana Pottratz Acosta Quoted in Visa Verge About Lawsuit to Block Ending Somalia’s TPS

Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta, visiting assistant professor and director of the the Immigration & Human Rights Clinic of the James H. Binger Center for New Americans, was quoted in Visa Verge about the lawsuit filed to block the termination of Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The suit alleges racial bias and procedural errors ahead of a March 17 deadline. Nearly 1,100 Somali nationals face loss of work authorization and deportation protection.The suit challenges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate the program and asks the court to halt or overturn the termination so protections remain in place while the case proceeds. TPS is a humanitarian program that provides deportation protection and work authorization to eligible nationals from designated countries when conditions such as conflict or disaster prevent safe return. Legal experts say there are limits on the government’s discretion to terminate the program. Prof. Pottratz Acosta said TPS terminations must be based solely on home-country conditions not domestic politics or fraud allegations, and that prior Trump-era attempts were blocked by courts.