USA18 August, 20262 min read
Federal Judge Brian Murphy Lets Trump Administration End Ethiopia TPS for About 5,000
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Federal judge Brian E. Murphy clears way to end TPS for about 5,000 Ethiopians. DHS to terminate deportation protections as court lifts stay on termination.
TPS Ends for Ethiopians
A US federal judge in Boston authorized the Trump administration to strip deportation protections from roughly 5,000 Ethiopian nationals, clearing the way for the total cancellation of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Judge Brian Murphy lifted a previous stay on the termination, and DHS General Counsel James Percival posted on X: "All TPS terminations are in effect!"
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned those affected that "leave immediately or be swiftly deported," after the court lifted the stay on Ethiopia TPS termination.
The decision followed a determination by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that Ethiopia no longer met the criteria for TPS designation, with termination effective Feb. 13, after a Jan. 30 stay by a judge in the US District of Massachusetts.
The ruling aligned with June Supreme Court decisions that allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of people from both Haiti and Syria.
Court Challenge Rejected
African Communities Together sought to suspend the termination while its lawsuit was being considered, but the court denied the request to postpone the termination of TPS for about 5,000 Ethiopians.
US District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy rejected attorneys’ arguments that the move violated the constitutional right to due process, and he also did not support the position that Kristi Noem lacked the authority to revoke TPS designation.
The CNN report said Murphy denied a request from African Communities Together to postpone termination while the group’s legal challenge plays out, and described Tuesday’s ruling as clearing the way for the Trump administration to end deportation protections.
Reuters reported that Murphy lifted the last remaining judicial block on DHS terminating TPS for individual countries after the US Supreme Court in June allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria.
The Reuters account also said the Supreme Court’s June ruling, with a 6-3 conservative majority, curtailed the ability of judges to review DHS efforts under Trump to end TPS designations for 13 countries.
What Happens Next
The ruling leaves thousands of Ethiopians in the United States facing a major change to their immigration status as TPS protections are terminated and the court challenge proceeds after the stay was lifted. Anadolu Ajansı reported that Mullin said individuals whose status has expired are now in the country illegally, and he framed the options as leaving immediately or being swiftly deported. The CNN account said TPS provides people fleeing war, natural disasters or humanitarian crises with temporary permission to live and work in the US without fear of being deported, but that the Trump administration maintains those permissions are temporary.
In the background of the Ethiopia case, CNN said the Supreme Court earlier this summer allowed the administration to end TPS protections for immigrants from Syria and Haiti, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands eligible for deportations. Hondudiario reported that Honduras’ ambassador to the United States, Roberto Flores Bermúdez, said the government is providing guidance to Hondurans affected by TPS cancellation and that "it is hard to reverse the Trump administration's decision to cancel TPS."