The Trump administration has announced it will revoke temporary asylum protections for approximately 10,000 Myanmar nationals living in the United States, despite the country remaining under military dictatorship control.
Homeland Security Ends Protected Status
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security declared it was terminating Burma's designation for Temporary Protected Status relief. The department claimed that after reviewing conditions in Myanmar and consulting with other government agencies, Secretary Kristi Noem determined the country "no longer continues to meet the conditions" required for TPS designation.
The order, published in the Federal Register, is scheduled to take effect in 60 days, potentially putting thousands of Myanmar nationals at risk of deportation to a country where military forces continue to execute political dissidents.
Pattern of Immigration Policy Changes
This decision represents the latest in a series of TPS terminations under the current administration. The Trump government has already withdrawn protected status for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan and Venezuela as part of broader immigration policy reforms.
The Temporary Protected Status program permits immigrants from designated countries to remain in the United States for up to 18-month periods with legal work authorisation when circumstances like armed conflict or health emergencies make safe return impossible. TPS status is typically renewable while dangerous conditions persist.
Contradictory Assessments of Myanmar's Situation
In justifying the termination, Homeland Security officials stated that "armed ethnic groups have established local and ethnic administrations, which have made tangible gains in governance and public services, signaling broader improvements in Burma's stability."
This assessment directly conflicts with the reality that Myanmar continues to be governed by a military dictatorship with a documented history of executing individuals identified as part of resistance or pro-democracy movements.
Myanmar originally received TPS designation in May 2021 under the Biden administration "on the basis of extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevented nationals of Burma from returning to the country in safety." The protection was extended for 18 months in 2022 and again in March 2024 until November of this year.
Broader Immigration Restrictions
The termination of Myanmar's protected status follows its addition to a Trump administration travel ban in June aimed at preventing immigration from nations considered to have a "large-scale presence of terrorists." The travel restrictions also affect citizens from Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
This decision comes just two days after the administration ended TPS protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, with Trump alleging that "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State" and accusing Governor Tim Walz of overseeing a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity."
Walz responded vehemently on social media, stating: "It's not surprising that the president has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject."
Legal Challenges and Humanitarian Concerns
The move to end Myanmar's TPS designation follows campaigning by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants alongside dozens of relief and human rights organisations to maintain the protection.
Eskinder Negash, president of USCRI, emphasised that "The United States has a moral and legal obligation to protect those who cannot safely return to Myanmar," describing the protected status as "not just compassionate – it's essential."
Each time the Trump administration has moved to terminate TPS relief, it has encountered substantial legal opposition. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union warned that the administration had already placed more than 675,000 people at immediate risk of family separation, detention, and deportation.
The ACLU characterised the administration's pattern of immigration actions as "one of the most sweeping rollbacks of humanitarian protections in the program's history."
According to Pew Research Center data, approximately 240,000 people in the United States identified as Burmese in 2023, based on census figures. The termination of TPS protections for Myanmar nationals represents another significant shift in US immigration policy that will likely face both legal challenges and humanitarian scrutiny in the coming months.
