US Judge Authorizes Trump Admin to Strip Ethiopian Immigrants of TPS
A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to cancel Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 5,000 Ethiopians living in the United States, though the decision still means that many could find themselves in an illegal position or face imminent deportation.
US District Judge Brian Murphy lifted a previously imposed stay that had prevented the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending TPS for Ethiopians. After the ruling, the DHS posted on its X feed that “those with terminated TPS are in our nation ILLEGALLY” and that they must “LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED.”
The move follows the Supreme Court’s June 2025 ruling that ended TPS for citizens of Haiti and Syria, and marks the final country in the Trump administration’s corporate campaign to revoke TPS for more than a dozen nations. The decision is part of a broader crackdown that began under first‑year Secretary Kristi Noem and continued during the Biden and Trump administrations.
Ethiopian nationals who had fought in court to preserve TPS, along with the advocacy group African Communities Together, said the ruling leaves thousands in the United States at new peril. “The crisis in Ethiopia is still ongoing, and this decision puts the lives of thousands of Ethiopians living in the US at severe risk,” said Diana Konaté, the group’s deputy executive director of policy and advocacy.
In the legal filing, Murphy dismissed portions of the plaintiffs’ suit but left open the question of whether the administration’s cancellation was motivated by racial or national‑origin animus, a claim that would violate the Constitution. The court now allows the case to continue under that theory.
The initial designation of Ethiopia for TPS occurred under the Biden administration in late 2022 in response to armed conflict in the country, including the violent Tigray war. At that time, DHS estimated more than 20,000 individuals had fled Ethiopia, seeking refuge in the United States. The designation granted them temporary work authorization and protection from deportation.
The Tigray region remains unstable, with reports of ongoing fighting and drone strikes near Addis Ababa. Both the federal government and regional Tigrayan leaders have accused each other of violating the 2022 Pretoria Agreement that ended the civil war—a war that killed hundreds of thousands. In the surrounding regions of Oromia and Amhara, armed insurgencies continue to flare, raising the risk of broader war.
The DHS announcement of the TPS termination marked a shift from the earlier protection. The announcement, made by Secretary Kristi Noem in December, said conditions in Ethiopia had improved, although critics point out that the conflict has yet to resolve.
With the TPS now rescinded, the DHS has moved to classify these Ethiopian immigrants as “irregular” and has urged them to leave immediately. The decision and the subsequent social media posts has invoked a sharp policy shift that may have serious humanitarian consequences for thousands of Americans whose home nation remains unstable.
The broader political context includes the Trump administration’s impetus to reduce immigration who had historically benefited from humanitarian statuses. The court’s ruling on this matter reflects a public back‑and‑forth of federal policy toward TPS designations, driven by overarching views of immigration control and national security.
