A federal district judge in Boston on Wednesday issued an order preventing the Trump administration from terminating legal protections for more than 5,000 Ethiopians who have been living and working in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. The decision represents the latest judicial check on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's move to rescind TPS designations as part of the administration's broader immigration policy aims.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, had previously entered a temporary order on January 30 that kept protections in place beyond a February 13 termination date to allow time for the court to hear arguments. On Wednesday he extended that intervention, blocking the plan to end TPS for Ethiopians while the litigation proceeds.
Under federal law, TPS is made available to foreign nationals in the United States when their home countries are affected by natural disasters, armed conflict, or other extraordinary conditions. The designation grants eligible migrants work authorization and temporary protection from deportation.
The Biden administration initially designated Ethiopians already present in the United States for TPS beginning in 2022, citing armed conflict and humanitarian concerns in Ethiopia. That designation was extended again in April 2024. In December, the Department of Homeland Security under then-Secretary Kristi Noem announced it would end TPS for Ethiopia on the grounds that the conditions no longer constituted a serious threat to safe return.
The DHS decision to terminate TPS for Ethiopia is one piece of a larger effort by the administration to rescind protections for recipients from 13 countries. The department has repeatedly said TPS was "never meant to be a ticket to permanent residency," a position it has cited in justifying rollbacks.
The plaintiffs in the case include three Ethiopian nationals and the advocacy group African Communities Together. They contend that the administration disregarded continuing dangers in Ethiopia, where armed conflict remains active in multiple regions, and argue that the stated reason for ending TPS was a pretext masking unconstitutional animus against non-white immigrants. The complaint notes that Ethiopia's population is predominantly Black.
At a court hearing on March 26, Paul Killebrew, an attorney for the plaintiffs, criticized a pattern in DHS findings. He said that then-Secretary Noem had determined 13 times in a row that conditions in various foreign nations had improved sufficiently to permit returns, and he described that record as "just not credible."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole O'Connor defended Noem's action in court, arguing that the decision to end TPS for Ethiopia was lawful. O'Connor said that Noem had reviewed conditions of armed conflict in Ethiopia and reached a rational conclusion that circumstances had changed. She added that even if political considerations influenced the decision, "that is totally acceptable."
The case involving Ethiopians comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments in April over whether the administration can revoke TPS designations for more than 350,000 Haitians and about 6,100 Syrians living in the United States. Those impending arguments underscore the broader legal uncertainty around the administration's efforts to narrow TPS eligibility.
For now, Judge Murphy's order preserves work authorization and temporary protection from deportation for the affected Ethiopians while the court evaluates the claims and the administration's rationale for ending TPS.