Judge allows Trump to end deportation protections for 5,000 immigrants

Judge allows Trump to end deportation protections for 5,000 more immigrants The judge lifted the last judicial block on DHS terminating the Temporary Protected Status designation for individual countries - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Legal protections shielding more than 5,000 Ethiopian immigrants from deportation can now be terminated by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration following a federal court decision on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston removed the final court injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from ending Temporary Protected Status designations for individual nations. The decision followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that enabled the administration to strip similar protections from thousands of migrants from Haiti and Syria. The Supreme Court decision, backed by a 6-3 conservative majority, restricted the authority of judges to oversee DHS efforts under Trump to revoke TPS for 13 nations that provided humanitarian immigration safeguards to eligible migrants. Welcoming the judicial outcome, James Percival, general counsel for DHS, posted on social media: "All TPS terminations are in effect!" The lawsuit seeking to preserve Ethiopia's designation was brought by several Ethiopian citizens along with African Communities Together, an advocacy group that voiced deep disappointment with Tuesday's decision. "The crisis in Ethiopia is still ongoing, and this decision puts the lives of thousands of Ethiopians living in the U.S. at severe risk," said Diana Konaté, the organization's deputy executive director of policy and advocacy. What is Temporary Protected Status? Under federal law, TPS is available to individuals whose native countries suffer from natural disasters, ongoing armed conflict, or other extraordinary circumstances. It guarantees eligible migrants formal work authorization and temporary immunity from deportation. Former Democratic President Joe Biden's administration initially granted TPS to Ethiopians residing in the United States in 2022, pointing to the necessity of shielding citizens from violent conflict and humanitarian hardship. However, DHS announced in December, under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, that it would end those safeguards, arguing that conditions in the country no longer presented a serious barrier to safe return. Murphy previously blocked the move by DHS in April, ruling that the agency bypassed statutory procedures and offered a "pretextual" justification for ending the status. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Murphy issued a temporary order maintaining the injunction on the Ethiopian termination while evaluating legal claims that had not been addressed by the high court. Those arguments asserted that the 1990 statute establishing TPS assigned the authority to extend or end deportation protections exclusively to the attorney general, rather than DHS, which was created later in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Judges presiding over separate cases involving migrants from Somalia, Myanmar, and South Sudan rejected that statutory argument in recent days, and Murphy followed suit on Tuesday. Although dismissing that argument alongside other claims, Murphy ruled that the plaintiffs may proceed with litigation examining whether DHS acted out of racial or national origin animus, which would violate the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs contend that administration officials deliberately overlooked ongoing dangers across Ethiopia as part of a broader strategy aimed at dismantling deportation protections for individuals who are non-white and non-European. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments [Image text:] Empl DEPORT TRUMP KEEP THE IMMIGRANTS