BOSTON / A federal judge on Tuesday cleared the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 5,000 Ethiopian nationals living in the United States, removing the last court order blocking the administration from implementing its termination of the humanitarian immigration protection.

U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston lifted the temporary protection that had kept Ethiopia’s TPS designation in effect while a legal challenge proceeded. The decision follows a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 25 that sharply limited federal courts’ ability to review the Department of Homeland Security’s decisions to terminate TPS designations.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe, a case involving TPS protections for nationals of Haiti and Syria, that challengers were not entitled to court orders postponing DHS’s termination decisions while litigation continued. That ruling has had broad consequences for challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for multiple countries.

Following Tuesday’s ruling, DHS General Counsel James Percival said that the department’s TPS terminations were now in effect. The ruling means Ethiopian nationals who relied exclusively on TPS may lose their protection from deportation and their TPS-based authorization to work in the United States. However, termination does not necessarily mean every affected Ethiopian will immediately be deported. Under federal rules, individuals who have another valid immigration status may remain under that status, while those without another lawful basis to stay could become subject to removal proceedings.

Ethiopia’s TPS History

The United States first designated Ethiopia for TPS on December 12, 2022, during the Biden administration, citing ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary humanitarian conditions. The designation was later extended and redesignated for another 18 months beginning June 13, 2024.

In December 2025, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Ethiopia’s designation would be terminated, concluding that conditions had improved sufficiently that the country no longer met the statutory requirements for TPS. The termination was scheduled to take effect at 11:59 p.m. on February 13, 2026.

Three Ethiopian nationals and the immigrant advocacy organization African Communities Together sued the government, arguing that DHS had failed to follow required procedures, had disregarded evidence of continuing danger in Ethiopia and had acted, at least in part, because of racial or national-origin discrimination.

Murphy initially blocked the termination. In April, he concluded that DHS had failed to follow the process established by Congress and questioned whether the administration had genuinely evaluated conditions inside Ethiopia before deciding to end the program.

The legal landscape changed after the Supreme Court’s June ruling. On Tuesday, Murphy rejected the plaintiffs’ remaining statutory arguments for continuing to block Ethiopia’s TPS termination and allowed the government to move forward.

Discrimination Claim Still Alive

The case, however, is not completely over.

Murphy allowed the plaintiffs to continue pursuing their constitutional claim that the administration’s decision may have been motivated by racial or national-origin discrimination, potentially violating the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment. The judge’s decision therefore allows the TPS termination to take effect while that portion of the lawsuit continues.

African Communities Together criticized the ruling, arguing that Ethiopia continues to face serious humanitarian and security problems and that forcing people to return could put lives at risk.

There is evidence that security concerns remain in parts of Ethiopia. The U.S. State Department’s April 2026 travel advisory warns Americans not to travel to several Ethiopian regions, including Amhara and parts of Oromia, because of armed conflict and unrest. UNHCR also continues to report conflict, insecurity and displacement in areas including Amhara and Oromia.

That situation highlights the central disagreement in the case: DHS maintains that conditions have improved enough to end the temporary immigration protection, while immigrant advocates argue that significant armed conflict, displacement and humanitarian risks persist.

What Is Temporary Protected Status?

Congress created Temporary Protected Status in 1990. The program allows the federal government to temporarily protect eligible nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions that make safe return difficult. TPS recipients generally receive protection from deportation and authorization to work in the United States while their country’s designation remains active.

TPS itself does not provide permanent residency or citizenship. When a country’s designation ends, beneficiaries generally return to whatever immigration status they held before TPS, if that status remains valid, or to another lawful status they obtained while protected. Those without another legal basis to remain in the United States may become subject to immigration enforcement.

Tuesday’s ruling marks another significant victory for the Trump administration’s effort to narrow the use of TPS and strengthens DHS’s ability to implement country-by-country terminations following the Supreme Court’s June decision. At the same time, the surviving constitutional challenge ensures that the legal battle over how and why those protections were terminated is not yet finished.