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THE PROTECTION IS ENDING
Today is an administrative deadline. Employers of Haitian workers with Temporary Protected Status must update federal employment forms by July 10. The date on the form is today. The date their legal status ends is likely July 27, when lower courts are expected to implement the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling.
More than 300,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians are about to lose the legal protection that has allowed them to live and work in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled six to three in Mullin v. Doe that the federal government has the authority to end Temporary Protected Status for both countries, and that this decision is effectively beyond judicial review. It is the most sweeping restriction on TPS in the program’s history.
TPS is not an immigration loophole. It is a congressionally created program, passed in 1990, that gives the government authority to designate countries experiencing crises — earthquakes, civil wars, catastrophic infrastructure collapse — and protect their nationals already in the United States from deportation. Haiti was first designated in 2010 after the earthquake. Some of the Haitians protected under TPS have been in the United States for sixteen years. They work in hospitals, warehouses, construction sites, and factories. In Springfield, Ohio, they make up nearly a fifth of the city’s population. Ohio’s driver’s licenses for Haitian TPS holders expired on July 1. The Supreme Court ruling did not extend those.
Haiti and Syria are not alone. The dismantling has been ongoing for months. Four countries are already gone — Cameroon, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal all lost their TPS designations in 2025. Liberia's Deferred Enforced Departure ended June 30. El Salvador, Sudan, and Lebanon retain their designations for now, expiring between September and November of this year. The pattern is consistent: the administration is terminating designations country by country, and the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling has made it significantly harder for any court to stop it.
The June 25 ruling also exposed a quiet consequence: it does not just end TPS for Haiti and Syria. It established that TPS termination decisions are not judicially reviewable, a precedent that now applies to every other country whose TPS the administration chooses to terminate. Every pending lawsuit challenging a TPS termination just got harder to win.
The people losing their TPS designations will revert to undocumented status. For those without another legal pathway, that means deportation proceedings. Some of them have been here longer than some of their American-born coworkers have been alive.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Today is the administrative deadline for employers of Haitian TPS workers. The legal protections end around July 27. More than 300,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians are losing the legal status that has let them live and work here — some for sixteen years. The Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling made future TPS terminations nearly impossible to challenge in court. Cameroon, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal are already gone.
Sources: NPR (US — 300,000 Haitians confirmed, 6,000 Syrians confirmed, 16 years confirmed, Springfield Ohio nearly a fifth confirmed, July 27 expected date confirmed, Mullin v. Doe June 25 confirmed, July 8); ASAP Together (US nonpartisan — full TPS country-by-country status confirmed, July 27 lower court implementation confirmed, other lawsuits harder to win confirmed, Cameroon/Honduras/Nicaragua/Nepal/Liberia termination dates confirmed, July 8); E-Verify / USCIS primary (US government primary — July 10 I-9 deadline confirmed, “as per court order” instruction confirmed, July 1 2026); Center Square (US — Ohio driver’s licenses July 1 expired confirmed, 1,700 Haitian TPS Ohio licenses confirmed, Springfield businesses confirmed, Bailey condemnation confirmed, July 8); National Immigration Forum (US nonpartisan — Mullin v. Doe 6-3 confirmed, judicially not reviewable confirmed, remand to district courts confirmed, 32-day implementation timeline confirmed, June 25 2026)
DAY 23
The United States did not strike Iran overnight Thursday into Friday. The pause is confirmed and deliberate. A US official told CNN that the US has been “striking and then pausing to avoid escalation and let diplomacy work” while maintaining a target list as leverage. Pakistan and Qatar are working to bring both sides back to negotiations. Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi called his Saudi, Turkish, Omani, and Pakistani counterparts on Thursday, signaling active diplomatic outreach.
Earlier on Thursday, US strikes killed at least 14 people inside Iran and wounded 78 others, according to Iran's Health Ministry. Most were reportedly military personnel. In Kuwait, the military shot down three ballistic missiles, a cruise missile, and 10 drones. One person was wounded by falling debris. Bahrain intercepted incoming fire. Jordan intercepted Iranian missiles that had breached its airspace and triggered air raid sirens.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, one of the key negotiators at the Versailles summit, posted on X Thursday morning. “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you’ll get hit.”
CNN reported Thursday, citing sources, that Israel shared intelligence with the United States that Iran has devised a new plan to assassinate President Trump. That claim comes from anonymous sources and has not been confirmed by a named official or primary government statement. ROTWR notes it but does not treat it as confirmed fact.
Khamenei was buried in Mashhad Thursday. Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, did not appear — not at the Tehran ceremonies, not at Qom, not at Najaf, not at his father’s burial. His first public appearance since being appointed to lead the Islamic Republic remains yet to come.
The MOU was signed on June 17. Today is Day 23.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: The US paused strikes overnight. Iran struck US military targets in four Gulf states on Thursday. 14 people are dead inside Iran, 78 wounded. Israel is reportedly ready to join US strikes when Trump gives the word. Pakistan and Qatar are trying to bring both sides back to the table. Khamenei is buried. The man who replaced him has not been seen in public since February 28.
Sources: NPR / AP (US wire — 14 killed/78 wounded Iran Health Ministry confirmed, Kuwait three ballistic missiles/one cruise/10 drones confirmed, one wounded debris confirmed, Bahrain/Jordan intercepts confirmed, Qalibaf “If you strike, you’ll get hit” quote verbatim confirmed, Araghchi diplomatic calls confirmed, July 10); CNN live blog (US — deliberate pause confirmed, US official “striking and then pausing” confirmed, Pakistan/Qatar mediating confirmed, Trump assassination plot claim from anonymous sources confirmed, USS Abraham Lincoln confirmed, Mojtaba not appeared confirmed, July 9); Times of Israel liveblog (Israel — Israel willing to join strikes waiting Trump confirmed, Khamenei buried Mashhad confirmed, Mojtaba absent burial confirmed, Nader Shah comparison Mashhad burial confirmed, July 10)
THE DOCTORS WHO AREN’T BEING PAID
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15. Eight weeks later, 1,759 people have been infected and at least 600 have died. The Bundibugyo strain responsible has no vaccine. No approved treatment. It kills between 30 and 50 percent of those it infects.
The doctors and nurses fighting it have not been paid since the day the outbreak was declared.
In Ituri Province in eastern Congo — the hardest hit of the three affected provinces, home to 847 of the country’s confirmed infections — healthcare workers walked off the job this week. They protested outside three treatment centres in Bunia, the provincial capital. Police dispersed one of the protests. They set tires alight outside the Rwampara treatment centre last Monday before police intervened. They have issued a formal letter to Ituri’s governor and health officials demanding payment for work rendered since May 15, an increase in daily allowances commensurate with the risks, and the removal of income tax deductions from their bonuses.
Dr. Ben Bakule, a community investigator who in late May narrowly escaped an attack by residents while tracing Ebola contacts in the village of Tutu, described the situation. “We spend money on transport to get to work. We thought we’d be rewarded. At the moment, nothing is going right because we’re not being paid. We don’t deserve this sort of treatment. We might have to give up our jobs. These are risks we’re taking. We risk dying for nothing.”
Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged problems with “the human resources pillar of the response.” An incident manager at Congo’s National Institute of Public Health said Bunia’s closed airport was hampering the flow of funds for payment. Africa’s CDC is working with Congolese authorities to speed payments. The WHO said Tuesday the virus continues to spread, fueled by population movements and insecurity, while some treatment centres are at near-full capacity.
The strike came at the start of enrollment for clinical trials for a Bundibugyo treatment, the only active attempt to find a cure. The people who need to be alive and working for those trials to function are the same people who have not been paid in two months.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Al Jazeera covered the surpassing of 500 deaths as a global health milestone, noting the Bundibugyo strain is distinct from the better-known Zaire strain and has received far less research funding and global attention. Bloomberg named this explicitly as “the world’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak” and documented that continuity of essential health services has been compromised by the strike, language drawn from Congo’s own National Institute of Public Health. The rest of the world’s health press is covering this as a governance crisis compounding a biological one. American coverage has been thin.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Six hundred people have died from Ebola in eastern Congo. The people fighting the outbreak have not been paid in two months. They are on strike. The outbreak is spreading faster than the response. There is no vaccine. There is no approved treatment. US global health funding cuts have already hampered the response in Congo. The people risking their lives to contain this have been told, functionally, that their lives are not worth paying for.
Sources: Reuters / AP via Columbia Missourian (US wire — 1,759 cases/580-600 deaths confirmed, outbreak declared May 15 confirmed, Ituri hardest hit confirmed, Bakule quote verbatim confirmed, limited gear confirmed, Rwampara tire protest confirmed, clinical trials enrollment confirmed, July 8); Bloomberg (US/international — “world’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak” confirmed, Africa CDC working to speed payments confirmed, continuity of health services compromised confirmed, Bunia/Rwampara strike continuing confirmed, 847 infections in those zones confirmed, July 9-10); Reuters via US News (US wire — three treatment centre protests Thursday confirmed, police dispersed CME protest confirmed, Kamba “human resources pillar” quote confirmed, Mankoula Africa CDC quote confirmed, formal letter July 5 confirmed, Bundibugyo 30-50% kill rate confirmed, July 9); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — 500 deaths milestone confirmed, Bundibugyo strain distinct/less research funding confirmed, 17th epidemic confirmed, no vaccine/no treatment confirmed, July 6); WHO / UN News (UN primary — virus continues to spread confirmed, population movements/insecurity fueling spread confirmed, treatment centres near capacity confirmed, July 7)
ALSO DEVELOPING
Planned Parenthood Votes announced a $47 million “We Decide” campaign for the 2026 midterm elections, targeting 10 competitive House races in seven states and key Senate contests in Michigan and Maine. The investment targets Republicans who voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill’s provision cutting Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements for one year, a provision that expired last weekend after nearly 30 clinics were forced to close. The spending is Planned Parenthood’s second-largest midterm investment, behind $50 million in 2022.
Sources: The Hill (US — $47 million confirmed, “We Decide” campaign confirmed, 10 House races/seven states confirmed, Michigan/Maine Senate confirmed, Standiford quotes confirmed, July 9); Washington Examiner (US — named Republican targets confirmed, Michigan Rogers confirmed, Maine Collins confirmed, nearly 30 clinics closed confirmed, $700 million annual Medicaid loss confirmed, July 9)
WAR DAY 133 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468+ killed (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10; two days of US strikes killed at least 14 more and wounded 78 per Iran Health Ministry July 9-10 — not yet reflected in tracker)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,321 killed (Al Jazeera live blog, updated July 8)
🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — tracker frozen June 10; does not reflect Iranian strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan this week
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10 — does not reflect ongoing strikes)
🛢️ Brent crude: $76.15/barrel (OilPrice.com — down from Wednesday’s peak; markets slightly easing on US deliberate pause)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.88/gallon (AAA — pump prices still catching up to crude spike)
Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon, updated July 8. Iran’s Health Ministry confirmed at least 14 additional killed and 78 wounded in US strikes July 8-9 — not yet reflected in tracker. Gulf states/Iraq tracker does not reflect Iranian strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan this week. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
