U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy has lifted a temporary stay that had halted the Trump administration’s bid to cancel Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 5,000 Ethiopians in the United States. Those whose TPS has been terminated are now considered illegal and must either leave immediately or be deported, the Department of Homeland Security said on X.
The ruling follows a Supreme Court decision in June that eliminated TPS for Haitian and Syrian residents, and it marks the last country to lose the protection since its designation in 2022 following the Tigray conflict and ongoing violence in Ethiopia.
In a celebratory tweet, DHS general counsel James Percival wrote, "All TPS terminations are in effect!" Meanwhile, Ethiopian nationals who sued to preserve the status and the advocacy group African Communities Together expressed deep disappointment, warning that the decision puts their lives at severe risk.
Republican Senator and former DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that the administration could target anyone with a terminated TPS for deportation. The decision opens the door for further legal challenges, including claims that the cancellation may violate the Constitution on grounds of racial or national‑origin animus.
The background of the situation dates back to the end of the two‑year Tigray war in 2021, when President Joe Biden’s administration first granted Ethiopia TPS. Since then, the former Tigray People's Liberation Front has pushed to restore the pre‑war regional government, while the federal government accuses it of cooperating with Eritrea and Sudan.
In addition to Ethiopia, the DHS has already ended TPS for several South and Central American countries, including Venezuela and Honduras, as part of its broader immigration crackdown.
