Judge Blocks Trump's Ethiopian TPS Termination

A federal judge, Brian Murphy (judge), blocked the Trump administration's decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 5,000 Ethiopians living in the United States. The judge ruled that the United States===United States Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully and disregarded congressional procedures in its attempt to end the protections, which were initially granted by the Joe Biden administration in 2022 and extended in 2024 due to armed conflict and humanitarian suffering in Ethiopia. This decision is a significant setback for Donald Trump's hardline immigration agenda, which has sought to end TPS for nationals from 13 countries, including Haiti and Syria, whose cases are pending before the United States===Supreme Court of the United States. Advocacy groups like African Communities Together filed lawsuits challenging the terminations, arguing that conditions in these countries remain unsafe. The United States===United States Department of Homeland Security, under former Secretary Kristi Noem, maintained that TPS is temporary and conditions in Ethiopia had improved sufficiently for safe return, a stance criticized by plaintiffs' lawyers like Paul Killebrew as pretextual. Nicole O Connor, representing the government, defended the administration's actions as lawful.