A US federal judge has lifted a legal block that had prevented the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for approximately 5,000 Ethiopian nationals living in the United States, clearing the way for their potential deportation. The ruling by US District Judge Brian Murphy removed a temporary stay that had shielded Ethiopian nationals from losing their humanitarian protections, making Ethiopia the final country for which the Trump administration has terminated TPS.
Judge Murphy Lifts Stay on TPS Termination for Ethiopians
Judge Murphy issued the ruling, which dismissed some claims brought by Ethiopian nationals who had sued to preserve their status. However, the judge allowed the plaintiffs to continue litigating one key argument — that the cancellation was driven by racial or national origin discrimination, which would breach the US Constitution.
According to the BBC, following the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security posted a blunt warning on X: "Those with terminated TPS are in our nation ILLEGALLY. They have two options: LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED." The department's general counsel, James Percival, also celebrated the outcome, writing on X: "All TPS terminations are in effect!"
Legal Battle Continues as Advocacy Groups Voice Concern
The ruling came weeks after the US Supreme Court in June ended similar protections for thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals, giving the administration further legal footing for its broader immigration crackdown. President Donald Trump has moved to cancel TPS for nationals from more than a dozen countries since taking office.
The advocacy group African Communities Together, along with the Ethiopian plaintiffs, said the decision put lives at risk. The legal challenge over the cancellation continues in court, with the plaintiffs pressing their discrimination argument.
Ethiopia's TPS History and Renewed Tigray Conflict
Ethiopia was first designated for TPS in late 2022 under then-President Joe Biden, following the conflict in the country's northern Tigray region. The Biden administration estimated at the time that more than 20,000 people who had been living continuously in the US since October 2022 would qualify for the protection.
Tensions in Tigray have risen again in recent months, with fighting and drone strikes reported in parts of the region. Both Ethiopia's federal government and Tigrayan leaders have accused each other of breaching the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The Tigray People's Liberation Front has moved to restore its prewar regional government, while Addis Ababa has accused Tigrayan leaders of cooperating with Eritrea and the Sudanese military. Ethiopia also faces separate armed insurgencies in its Oromia and Amhara regions.
