A federal judge has paused the Trump administration’s decision to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Ethiopians who came to the United States, ruling that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t follow the legal procedure for doing so.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts penned a scathing analysis of the decision to eliminate TPS under the Trump administration, finding that it certainly wasn’t appropriate in the case of Ethiopia, where people would still face substantial danger if forced to return there.
“As of the date of the executive order, entitled ‘Protecting the American People Against Invasion,’ seventeen countries had TPS designations. In the twelve months between the issuance of the order and filing of this suit, Secretary Noem announced the termination of twelve TPS countries — every single TPS country for which she conducted a periodic review during that period,” wrote Murphy. “Perhaps it has been a banner year for disaster recovery and geopolitical stability worldwide. The evidence, and common sense, suggests otherwise.”
Indeed, he wrote, “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.”
In other words, per American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “Judge Murphy rule[d] that Secretary Noem flagrantly ignored the legal requirement to carry out a meaningful consultation with other agencies about whether conditions in a country had actually changed for the better before making her decision to terminate TPS for Ethiopia.”
This comes mere weeks after Noem was fired from her position and replaced with Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin — reportedly at least in part because Trump was outraged she shifted the responsibility for a $200 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign of herself onto the White House.
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