'Devastated': Previously protected Syrians in US face upheaval as legal protections lift

Dahlia Doe* is one of more than 6,000 Syrians who will lose their legal status in the US on Friday, after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced back in September the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians. 

Impacted Syrians will no longer be legally allowed to reside and work in the country from Saturday onwards and will be subject to detention and possible removal proceedings.

After the government announced its plans, Dahlia had just two months to figure out her future while looking at packing up the life she had built for herself. She has been in the US for ten years now, having arrived as a student from a country in the Middle East, where she lacked citizenship status. To preserve anonymity, Dahlia did not want to share which country she was living in before the US.

Her choices are stark: be potentially deported to Syria, a country she was not born in and has never lived in, or fight to stay in the one where she has friends, family and community. 

She is now one of seven plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the government, which was heard on Monday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenging the end of TPS for Syrians. It has been in place since 2012, after civil war broke out in Syria in 2011.

The judge presiding over the case is expected to make a decision before it goes into effect on Friday, the International Refugee Assistance Project told Middle East Eye.

TPS status is generally offered to eligible nationals from countries designated as unsafe to return to, such as those experiencing civil war or natural disasters. It does not, however, provide a pathway for permanent residency, hence the "temporary" protected status.

In an announcement on 19 September, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin argued that the Trump administration's decision to revoke TPS was "restoring sanity". Kristi Noem is the head of the DHS.

“This is what restoring sanity to America’s immigration system looks like,” said McLaughlin in a press release.

“Conditions in Syria no longer prevent their nationals from returning home. Syria has been a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades, and it is contrary to our national interest to allow Syrians to remain in our country. TPS is meant to be temporary.”

Syria was beset by civil war from 2011 until 2024, when primarily Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham forces led by Ahmad al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad late last year, effectively ending the war. Since then, several sanctions targeting Syria have been lifted, and the country's current leader, Sharaa, has been welcomed by the western world, culminating last week in Sharaa becoming the country's first president to visit the White House.

'I've been up every single night'

Before discovering that TPS had ended, Dahlia says she was living a fulfilling life, where she got to see her family every month, was excelling at work, spent her spare time training for marathons, and planned to get a puppy next year.

Now, she struggles to sleep at night, wondering what she will do and who will take care of her parents if she is forced to leave. 

“I’ve been up every single night since I heard the news," she told Middle East Eye on a call. "It keeps my family up at night. I try not to talk to them about it and add to their anxiety,” she added. 

'You have to attempt to live a normal life while going through a devastating instability, not knowing what might happen tomorrow'

- Dahlia Doe, Syrian on the verge of losing TPS status

“You have to attempt to live a normal life while going through a devastating instability, not knowing what might happen tomorrow."

She said it was hard going to work every day with uncertainty hanging over her and not expecting her coworkers to understand her complex situation. “It’s hard for my manager to understand what I might be going through,” she added.

While she has a pending application for another immigration status, the results will not come through before she loses her TPS status.

She said that after she found out about the forthcoming termination of her status, she tried to plan for the future. Over the last several weeks, she has been making an effort to spend time with her parents, who are permanent US residents, her sister, a citizen, and her sister’s children.

“In my worst-case scenario, I could be separated from my family, and I need to prepare for that and spend as much time with them."

Dahlia is also financially responsible for covering her father’s medical care, which has been another source of stress.

“I’m preparing for what could happen to my parents and how we will manage their affairs if I am deported."

She recalls remembering finding out about the termination of TPS and how much panic it triggered in the wider Syrian community. 

She feels the government’s behaviour is “inhumane”.

“TPS was set up to protect people, so how can you terminate that status and deport people to a country where conditions are extremely unstable?” she said.

“I can’t even imagine how I would rebuild my life. Or even if I could rebuild my life. I’ve worked so hard for everything I have in the US.”

In the midst of the fear and panic, connecting with other Syrians who are also facing the same fate has brought some relief.

“It’s been really important that we have all been able to be there for each other and navigate this difficult time together."  

'I was devastated' 

Ahmad Doe* is facing the same dilemma as Dahlia. He's a Syrian national, also a fellow plaintiff in the lawsuit, who was born and raised in the Middle East and has never lived in Syria. He is currently married to a non-Syrian national.

He arrived in the US three years ago after being hired by a media company in the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) area. 

He recalls coming to the US and being excited about being in “the centre of the politics of the world” and meeting people from different backgrounds.

He remembers how he was scared of Halloween celebrations until he arrived here and was impressed by how people decorated their homes and dressed up. 

He has built a network of friends and started to feel like he belongs here, planning for his future life. This included plans to set up his own media platform and possibly do a postgraduate degree.

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“What I enjoy about being here is the freedom," he told MEE on a call. "I can say whatever I want both in my personal and professional life." 

His employer had begun the process of petitioning for a green card for him, but then Ahmad suddenly lost his job and with it, his work visa.

He was offered another work opportunity, applied for TPS and was waiting for work authorisation when he found out his TPS status was going to be cancelled. 

“I was devastated. It was shocking. Very shocking.” 

Like many people, Ahmad learned about it through a friend, rather than directly from the Department of Homeland Security. 

He has been surviving off his savings since he lost his job, and is concerned about being deported.

“It’s not safe for journalists or other people in Syria. I don’t have any family there, and haven’t been to the country for 15 years. Everything I have is here. I have my friends and my network. Going back would affect my career.”

Although Assad was toppled in December 2024, the country is currently in a transition period, and it is estimated that it will take years to rebuild.

Farrah Alkhorfan, co-founder of Immigrants Act Now, said in a statement that ending TPS for Syrians would endanger their lives.

“The decision to end TPS for Syrians comes far too soon,” she said. “Syria remains deeply unstable, with cities destroyed, infrastructure in ruins, and parts of the country still under armed conflict.”

Syrian nationals are not the only ones affected. The current administration has also started terminating TPS status for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

Muslim Advocates, International Refugee Assistance Project and  Van Der Hout LLP will be representing the plaintiffs in court in Dahlia Doe vs. Noem on Monday.