Washington acted unlawfully in seeking to terminate the legal status of immigrants from the African state despite continued unrest there, Judge Brian Murphy has ruled
A federal judge has barred the administration of US President Donald Trump from ending the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that has allowed more than 5,000 Ethiopian nationals to live and work in the US since 2022.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced in December that it was terminating TPS for Ethiopians, saying conditions in the country no longer justified the designation. The protections were due to expire on February 13, but District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston temporarily halted the move on January 30 ahead of that deadline.
In the latest ruling on Wednesday, Murphy concluded that Washington acted “without regard for the process delineated by Congress” and that the decision was “preordained” and based on “pretextual” reasons.
The lawsuit was filed by three Ethiopian nationals and the advocacy group African Communities Together. In March, the court extended its temporary pause after hearing arguments, leaving the protections in place unless a later order says otherwise. Plaintiffs challenging the move argued that the administration acted unlawfully in ending the program despite continued violence and instability in parts of Ethiopia.
”The administrative record is replete with evidence, including reports by DHS itself from as recent as August and September of 2025, that armed conflict and natural disasters continue to create dangerous conditions in Ethiopia,” the judge stated.
The ruling marks the latest setback for the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy. TPS shields foreign nationals from deportation and allows them to work in the US when conditions in their home countries are deemed unsafe. Since Trump returned to office last year, his administration has moved to phase out the program for 13 countries, including Somalia and South Sudan.
Last month, Somali immigrants and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit to prevent Washington from ending their protections and deporting them to Somalia, where an ongoing armed conflict involving the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab continues. Somalia has been designated for TPS since September 16, 1991, and approximately 1,082 individuals were set to lose their status on March 17.
Republican US Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri has criticized the court decision as “absurd” and an “assault on the rule of law,” adding that Judge Murphy “lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to issue this order.”
