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The Trump administration has ended Temporary Protected Status for nearly 10,000 Myanmar nationals in the US. This decision comes despite ongoing military repression and warnings from human rights groups about the dangers of return.
TPS was originally created to allow nationals from countries facing armed conflicts. (File Photo: Reuters)
UPDATED: Nov 25, 2025 06:25 IST
The Trump administration has moved to end temporary asylum protections for nearly 10,000 Myanmar nationals living in the United States, terminating the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation granted to them since 2021 despite Myanmar remaining under an entrenched military dictatorship accused of widespread executions and repression.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the decision on Monday, saying its review of current conditions no longer justified Myanmar’s status. The termination will take effect in 60 days.
In a notice published in the Federal Register, DHS said it was ending Myanmar’s Temporary Protective Status(TPS) designation after consultations in the administration.
"After reviewing country conditions in Burma and consulting with appropriate US government agencies, the secretary determined that Burma no longer continues to meet the conditions for TPS designation," the department said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
DHS CITES IMPROVEMENTS, RIGHTS GROUPS DISPUTE CLAIMS
The announcement marks another step in the Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul of humanitarian and immigration protections. TPS was originally created to allow nationals from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or extraordinary instability to legally remain and work in the US on a temporary basis. The programme typically grants protection in 18-month increments and can be renewed.
Myanmar was added to the programme in May 2021 following the military coup and the violent crackdown that followed. The Biden administration extended TPS twice, most recently in March 2024 through November 2025. Nearly 10,000 Myanmar nationals were covered under the status.
In its new order, DHS claimed improvements on the ground. "In parallel with the national political process, armed ethnic groups have established local and ethnic administrations, which have made tangible gains in governance and public services, signalling broader improvements in Burma’s stability," it said.
Human rights groups strongly dispute that characterisation. Myanmar’s junta has continued mass arrests, killings and airstrikes in civilian areas, and rights watchdogs have documented extensive crimes against anti-coup activists.
The withdrawal comes alongside several similar actions targeting other nationalities. Since taking office, Trump has ended TPS protections for Afghans, Cameroonians, Hondurans, Nepalis, Nicaraguans, South Sudanese, Venezuelans and others.
The administration also added Myanmar to a new travel ban in June, citing what it described as a "large-scale presence of terrorists". The same ban affects citizens from Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The Myanmar announcement comes just two days after Trump cancelled TPS protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota. "Somali gangs are terrorising the people of that great State," Trump claimed, accusing Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, of presiding over a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity".
Walz responded sharply: "It’s not surprising that the president has chosen to broadly target an entire community. This is what he does to change the subject."
Each TPS termination has triggered legal challenges, including from the American Civil Liberties Union, which warned earlier this month that the administration had placed more than 675,000 people at immediate risk of deportation, family separation and detention.
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Published By:
Satyam Singh
Published On:
Nov 25, 2025
