US Judge Rules Against Trump Admin’s Move Against TPS | The Reporter Ethiopia

A United States federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s decision to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for more than 5,000 Ethiopians residing in the US.

US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston said the decision to end TPS, enacted by the US Department of Homeland Security in December 2025 on the grounds that Ethiopia no longer posed a threat to people returning safely, ignored statutory procedures and ongoing conflicts.

The ruling comes following the filing of a lawsuit by three Ethiopian nationals and African Communities Together, a civil organization championing the rights of African immigrants in the US.

Murphy concluded that DHS disregarded the statutory procedures Congress enacted that govern TPS and provided a “pretextual” rationale for ending protections granted to people from Ethiopia, where “armed conflict ​and natural disasters continue to create dangerous conditions.”

The judge’s statement corresponds to a travel advisory issued by the US embassy in Addis Ababa this month urging all US citizens to reconsider travel to Ethiopia due to unrest, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, landmines, communications disruptions, and exit bans.

“Fundamental to this case—and indeed to our constitutional system—is the principle that the will of ​the President does not supersede that of Congress,” Murphy wrote. “Presidential whims do not and cannot supplant agencies’ statutory obligations.”

The TPS program began in 1990 and initially applied to migrants from the nearby states of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras, but has since expanded to cover many other countries.

As of March 31, 2025, the US had granted TPS to approximately 1.3 million individuals from 17 countries. These designations are made based on severe conditions in each nation.

For example, Afghanistan was designated due to the severe humanitarian crisis and ongoing conflict following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. Somalia is included because of widespread violence, threats from Al-Shabaab, famine, disease, and extreme weather. Honduras first received TPS in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. El Salvador was designated in 2001 following a series of devastating earthquakes.

Today, Ethiopia is one of a dozen countries under TPS, alongside Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen. Approximately 1.3 million people live in the U.S. with TPS, and while Ethiopian immigrants account for only a tiny portion of the total, the consequences of the termination are dire for many.

The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can revoke TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the US later this month.