A U.S federal judge, Brian E. Murphy, on Tuesday ruled in favour of President Donald Trump’s administration, allowing it to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to Ethiopians living and working in the United States.
Murphy rejected a request by African Communities Together, a pro-African immigrant organisation in the U.S., seeking to delay the termination of TPS for more than 5,000 Ethiopians.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a post on X on Tuesday, said, “All TPS terminations are now In Effect. Those with terminated TPS should leave now. If they don’t, we will deport them.”
The ruling puts more than 5,000 Ethiopians currently living and working in the U.S under TPS at risk of deportation.
The Biden administration introduced the 18-month temporary protection for some Ethiopian nationals in 2022 amid an armed conflict in the country, shielding them from deportation.
In 2024, then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended the TPS designation for Ethiopians, citing the continued crisis in the country.
The latest ruling came a week after another federal judge upheld the Trump administration’s decision to end deportation protection for nearly 1,100 Somalis.
In January, the Trump administration announced plans to terminate Somalia’s TPS designation.
Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that conditions in the countries whose nationals were benefiting from TPS in the U.S had improved sufficiently to warrant ending the humanitarian protection.
