Judge Blocks TPS End for 5,000+ Ethiopians

A federal judge in Boston ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot terminate Temporary Protected Status for more than 5,000 Ethiopians living in the United States, blocking a Department of Homeland Security plan to end the protections that allow them to live and work legally without fear of deportation.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, in a decision from the District of Massachusetts, found that the Department of Homeland Security disregarded congressional procedures in its effort to revoke the status. The ruling extends a temporary order Murphy issued on January 30, which had already delayed the February 13 termination date. The judge criticized the agency's rationale as pretextual, noting that it failed to conduct a proper review of conditions in Ethiopia, where armed conflicts and natural disasters persist in multiple regions.

Temporary Protected Status, established under federal law, provides work authorization and deportation relief to nationals of countries facing extraordinary challenges such as war, famine, epidemics or environmental disasters. The program aims to give affected nations time to recover without the added strain of repatriating citizens to...