Another impeachable judge

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Judge Angel Kelley, a Biden-appointed District Court judge, issued an administrative stay on Tuesday blocking the Trump administration’s decision to strip South Sudan of its Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

South Sudan’s TPS designation was scheduled to end on Jan. 6, which would have allowed Homeland Security to deport 232 South Sudanese nationals with lawful status and 73 additional nationals with pending applications, according to Fox News.

Kelley cited legal complexity and “serious, long-term consequences, including the risk of deadly harm” as her justification for preventing the termination of South Sudan’s TPS designation. Kelley’s decision claims stay is not a ruling on the merits of the case, but “to preserve the status quo” before a complete ruling can be made.

The country first received the TPS designation during President Barack Obama’s second term in Nov. 2011. It was most recently renewed by President Joe Biden in 2023. Sec. Kristi Noem published a Federal Register notice in November of this year announcing the Trump administration’s intent to terminate the status.

Temporary Protected Status is a legislatively created category with set expiration dates. The Supreme Court has already ruled twice this year that lower federal court justices do not have the jurisdiction or the power to rewrite the law as they would prefer it: No, 532,000 TPS beneficiaries do not have the right to individual hearings before the government can remove them (7-2 decision); and yes, the government can deport 350,000 Venezuelans after their TPS status has expired (8-1 decision). Judge Kelly’s order is one of complete defiance of the Supreme Court, an act that even the dullest of DEI appointees* must know is illegal. Thow her out.


*Education

  • B.A., Colgate University, 1989.

  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1992.

  • LL.M. in Trial Advocacy, Temple University School of Law, 2003. 

Professional Experience

  • Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2021–present).

  • Associate Justice, Massachusetts Superior Court (2013–2021); also served as the Regional Administrative Judge for a period.

  • Associate Justice, Brockton District Court (2009–2013).

  • Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (2007–2009).

  • Clinical Instructor, Harvard Law School (2005–2007).

  • Attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (1997–2005).

  • Staff Attorney, The Legal Aid Society in the Juvenile Rights Division in Brooklyn, NY (1993–1997).