(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Boston has cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate temporary protected status for Ethiopian nationals.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy on Tuesday lifted the administrative stay that had been blocking the termination of the TPS program.
The ruling follows other recent court orders allowing the administration to end protections for TPS holders from countries including Haiti, Somalia, Syria and Myanmar as part of the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.
The court rulings come after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the Trump administration could terminate TPS for Haitian nationals.
The advocacy group African Communities Together filed suit in January, arguing that Ethiopia remains in a humanitarian crisis.
“Should TPS for Ethiopia be terminated, all Plaintiffs will face impossible choices: to uproot their lives yet again in search of a pathway to safety in a third country; to remain in the United States without lawful immigration status, at risk of imminent immigration confinement and removal; or to relocate to Ethiopia, a country still suffering violent conflict,” the group said in its original complaint.
TPS status, established by the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, provides work authorization and protection from deportation if a foreign country is deemed by the government to be unsafe because of armed conflict, natural disaster, or “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said that individuals with terminated TPS should leave the U.S.
“Those with terminated TPS should leave NOW,” DHS said. “If they don’t, we will DEPORT them.”
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