A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to the U.S. government’s plan to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Myanmar living in the United States — a shift from the Trump administration’s recent assessment that conditions in Myanmar have improved. 

The ruling interrupts a move that had signaled U.S. support for the junta’s upcoming elections and marks a departure from the administration’s controversial policy to end TPS for Burmese nationals.  

On Jan. 23, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end TPS for Myanmar migrants lacked a legitimate basis and therefore cannot take effect while a legal challenge proceeds. The judge blocked the Trump administration from ending protections for roughly 4,000 Myanmar nationals and scheduled a hearing on Feb. 6 on the merits of the case. 

In his written opinion, Judge Kennelly concluded that there was no genuine review of the conditions in Myanmar that underpin the decision and that the termination appeared more likely motivated by the administration’s broader objective of curbing immigration and eliminating TPS generally, rather than by any evidence that conditions back home have materially improved. 

The election exercise ended last week, with the military expected to enjoy a landslide after an openly slanted election. 

For some time, critics say that a free and fair election is impossible — the military only controls a small fraction of the country and has spent the last four years eliminating political opposition, jailing proponents of democracy, and waging war against the civilian population. 

DHS estimated that the end of TPS would affect 3,969 current approved beneficiaries residing in the U.S. Under the announcement, they were originally expected to leave the country or secure another lawful status by Jan. 26. 

“The secretary has determined,” the notice published in November said, “conditions no longer hinder the safe return of aliens who are nationals of Burma to the country,” adding that “continuing to permit the Burmese nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the U.S. national interest.” 

Myanmar is currently ruled by a military junta that forcefully seized control from a civilian government in February 2021. The Tatmadaw, as the military is called locally, controls only about 20% of the country; the remainder comprises highly contested territory or areas under the control of various rebel militias, estimated at about 42%. 

The Tatmadaw continues to support an ethnoreligious genocide against the Rohingya Muslim community, mostly concentrated in Rakhine state. More than a million people have fled the persecution since the genocide escalated in 2017. In the 18 months leading up to July 2025, about 150,000 Rohingya refugees fled to neighboring Bangladesh, representing the largest influx since 2017 and indicating continued danger for ethnoreligious minorities in Myanmar. 

In March 2025, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report criticizing the Tatmadaw for its systematic repression of religious minorities and urging the international community to increase attention to the plight of the persecuted in Myanmar. 

“The country has seen the displacement of over 3.5 million people in recent years,” the USCIRF report noted, “including more than 90,000 in Christian-majority Chin state, 237,200 in Kachin state, and one million Muslim-majority Rohingya refugees.” 

Although a large majority of the population is ethnic Burman and an even greater percentage is Buddhist, the communities that make up the remainder are well-established and well-organized, and for the most part predate the formation of the modern state by centuries. 

In many cases, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have taken on a distinct religious identity as well. About 20% to 30% of ethnic Karen are Christians, while other groups, such as the Chin, are more than 90% Christian. This overlap of ethnic and religious identity has created a volatile situation for believers. 

Representing an extremist interpretation of Buddhism, the Burmese military has a long history of violence against the people of Myanmar, including against ethnic and religious minorities like the Muslim-majority Rohingya and Christian-majority Chin. 

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