Aung Doe v. Noem: Challenging the government’s termination of TPS for Burmese nationals

On November 25, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem published a notice of the termination of Burma’s (also known as Myanmar) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation and related benefits. The notice terminated TPS for nearly 4,000 people effective January 26, 2026. TPS protects certain individuals from removal to countries designated unsafe on account of dire country conditions like armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances. Burma remains under siege by the military government in the wake of a 2021 coup. Burma/Myanmar has had TPS designation since March 2021.

IRAP is counsel in a class-action lawsuit representing a group of individual plaintiffs, suing on behalf of themselves and similarly situated Burmese TPS recipients, seeking to have the termination declared illegal, and to restore vital benefits. 

Our clients

Plaintiffs include seven Burmese nationals with TPS who are directly impacted by the termination. The individual plaintiffs fear returning to Burma, a country ruled by a military government, and have planted roots in the United States. They now face a reality that threatens to separate mixed-status families, disconnect them from their home communities, and cut off access to employment and other related-benefits altogether.

Impact

This lawsuit challenges the Trump Administration’s abrupt and unlawful termination of TPS for Burmese nationals–just one in a series of systematic terminations of TPS designations meant to eliminate the congressionally authorized TPS program. Over 4,000 Burmese nationals currently have TPS and, as a result, find refuge in the United States.

Case status

• December 19, 2025: Case is filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (“Court” or “District Court”).
• December 23, 2025: Plaintiff’s file briefing in support of Motion to Postpone Agency Action.
• January 8, 2026: Defendants’ file Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
• January 13, 2026: Plaintiff’s  file their reply to government’s briefing.
• January 23, 2026: The District Judge ordered the postponement of the termination of Temporary Protective Status for Burma/Myanmar.
• February 11, 2026: Defendants request a stay pending appeal of the district court’s postponement order.
• February 23, 2026: Plaintiffs file their opposition to a stay.
• April 22, 2026: Defendants’ file their opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is lead counsel on this lawsuit.