US ends deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals

The USCIS said ‘South Sudan no longer meets the criteria for an ongoing armed conflict that poses a serious threat’ – despite UN fears it could slide back into civil war. Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters

The US is ending temporary deportation protection for South Sudanese nationals, which for more than a decade allowed people from the east African country to stay in the US after escaping conflict.

In a notice published on Wednesday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said conditions in South Sudan no longer met the statutory requirements for temporary protected status. The agency said South Sudanese nationals with status through the programme had 60 days to leave the US or face deportation.