UUSC Statement on the Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Burma

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burmese nationals is not only based on false information — it is a betrayal of American values and a gift to one of the world’s most brutal military regimes.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claims that “the situation in Burma has improved enough that it is safe for Burmese citizens to return home.” This statement is not merely incorrect — it is a dangerous fabrication that ignores the reality of ongoing atrocities, widespread violence, and systematic persecution in Burma today.

Even more alarmingly, Secretary Noem praised the junta’s upcoming sham elections as “free and fair” and commended the military dictatorship and its authoritarian ally, China, for what she misleadingly called “successful ceasefire agreements.” In reality, these so-called ceasefires are instruments of coercion against ethnic resistance movements fighting for their survival and freedom.

Secretary Noem issued this statement despite receiving a letter signed by over 150 organizations presenting overwhelming evidence that Burma remains unsafe for TPS holders to return. These organizations made clear that protecting Burmese refugees is not only a moral imperative — it is essential to U.S. national security and consistent with America’s commitment to democracy, human rights, and religious freedom.

Make no mistake about what this policy means: The United States will be sending people back to face persecution, torture, and death.

Among those forced to return will be people facing religious persecution and genocidal violence including Muslims, Christians, and other ethnic groups, as documented by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF); women who survived rape by Burma’s military forces; democratically elected representatives now hunted by the junta; young pro-democracy activists; and civil society leaders whose only crime was believing in freedom.

This decision sends an unmistakable message to the Burma military junta and its patron, China: that the United States will turn its back on those fleeing tyranny. It abandons America’s moral leadership and emboldens dictators across the region.

We urgently call on the Department of Homeland Security to reverse this unconscionable decision and base its policies on facts, not fiction — on human rights, not appeasement.