Federal Judge Allows Termination of Deportation Protections for Ethiopian Immigrants

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration can proceed with ending deportation protections for Ethiopian immigrants under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy lifted a temporary hold on the TPS program, which had allowed Ethiopian nationals to live and work legally in the U.S. due to unsafe conditions in their home country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had determined that conditions in Ethiopia had improved and that the country no longer qualified for TPS. This ruling follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that permitted the termination of similar protections for individuals from Haiti and Syria. The DHS stated that all TPS terminations are now in effect and urged individuals with terminated TPS to leave the country. The ruling also allowed a discrimination claim from plaintiffs to move forward, suggesting that the termination may have violated the Fifth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. TPS was established in 1990 to provide temporary protection from deportation for noncitizens from countries experiencing significant turmoil.