A federal judge has decided that the Trump administration can move forward with canceling Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides humanitarian protection to immigrants, for approximately 5,000 Ethiopians living in the United States. “Those who had TPS canceled are in our nation ILLEGALLY,” the department of homeland security posted on X after the ruling. “They have two options: LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED.” The decision by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy came after the Supreme Court in June ended similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria. As part of his broader immigration campaign, President Donald Trump has sought to cancel protections for people from more than a dozen countries. Murphy’s ruling lifted a temporary stay that had prevented the administration from ending TPS for Ethiopians. people who fled their home countries due to extraordinary events, including natural disasters and armed conflicts. Grants those who are eligible temporary work authorization and protection from deportation. Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival celebrated the decision in X, posting: “All TPS terminations are in effect!” risk,” Diana Konaté, the group’s deputy executive director of policy and advocacy, told Reuters. According to Reuters, Murphy dismissed some of the lawsuit’s claims but is allowing plaintiffs to continue litigating whether the cancellation was motivated by racial or national origin animus, which would violate the U.S. Constitution. Ethiopia was first designated for TPS by then-President Joe Biden’s administration in late 2022 following armed conflict in the country, including the War of Tigray At the time, the government estimated that more than 20,000 people who had been displaced and headed to the United States (living continuously in the country since October 2022) would qualify for the designation. Millions of people in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, live with growing fears of a broader conflict, nearly four years after the end of a devastating two-year war. Fighting and drone attacks have been reported in recent weeks. in parts of Tigray Tensions have escalated as both the federal government and Tigray leaders accuse each other of violating the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended the civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) recently moved to restore the pre-war regional government and dismantle the interim administration appointed by Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy’s government. Tigray leader to cooperate with neighboring Eritrea and the Sudanese military. The renewed confrontation has also raised concerns that Eritrea could become involved, which could lead to broader regional unrest. Ethiopia also continues to grapple with armed insurgencies in Oromia and Amhara, the country’s two most populous regional states. DHS first announced it would end TPS for Ethiopians in December, under then-secretary Kristi Noem, saying conditions in Ethiopia were. TPS had already ended for several countries in South and Central America, including Venezuela and Honduras.
