After a federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Somali nationals living in the United States, the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, James Percival, distributed a “TPS update” on social media.
The update reflected the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate TPS designations for nationals of 13 countries including Somalia.
As seen below on the list, next to the country Ethiopia is the name Brian Murphy.
Today’s TPS update. pic.twitter.com/bCJNtbbiqA
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) August 14, 2026
Several users on X responded to Percival’s update with the same question, “Who’s Brian Murphy?”
Brian Murphy is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In March 2025, during the proceedings for D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, Murphy temporarily blocked DHS from deporting people to “third countries,” or countries other than the one they came from.
Percival, who was criticized by some for mentioning the judge by name, added on X: “Many people are reaching out demanding I stop tweeting about judicial activism. The tweets will continue until the activism stops. And the whining will only make me tweet harder!”
Many people are reaching out demanding I stop tweeting about judicial activism. The tweets will continue until the activism stops. And the whining will only make me tweet harder!
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) August 11, 2026
The official X account for the DHS amplified Percival’s post and added, “Termination of TEMPORARY Protected Status is now in effect for the following countries. For those with terminated TPS: LEAVE NOW or be DEPORTED.”
Termination of TEMPORARY Protected Status is now in effect for the following countries.
For those with terminated TPS: LEAVE NOW or be DEPORTED. https://t.co/Pahpi5pL2Z https://t.co/gYXRJoBYA3
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 14, 2026
[NOTE: Prior to joining the DHS, Percival was Chief of Staff to then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in January 2025 to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate when he became Trump’s Secretary of State.]