A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 5,000 Ethiopians living in the United States, according to infohub.kz.

After the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted on social media: "Those with terminated TPS are in our nation ILLEGALLY. They have two options: LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED." The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in June that ended similar protections for thousands from Haiti and Syria.

As part of his broader immigration crackdown, President Donald Trump has sought to cancel protections for people from more than a dozen countries. Judge Brian Murphy's ruling lifted a temporary stay that had blocked the administration from ending TPS for Ethiopians. Ethiopia was the final country where the Trump administration ended TPS, a status that grants temporary work authorization and protection from deportation to those who fled their home countries due to extraordinary events, including natural disasters and armed conflict.

DHS General Counsel James Percival celebrated the decision on social media, posting: "All TPS terminations are in effect!" However, Ethiopian nationals who had sued to preserve TPS and the advocacy group African Communities Together expressed disappointment. Diana Konaté, the group's deputy executive director of policy and advocacy, told Reuters: "The crisis in Ethiopia is still ongoing, and this decision puts the lives of thousands of Ethiopians living in the US at severe risk."

According to Reuters, Murphy dismissed some claims in the lawsuit but is allowing plaintiffs to continue litigating whether the cancellation was motivated by racial or national origin animus, which would violate the US Constitution.

Ethiopia was first designated for TPS in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden's administration, following armed conflict in the country, including the Tigray war. Millions in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, live with growing fears of a wider conflict, nearly four years after the end of a devastating two-year war. Fighting and drone strikes have been reported in parts of Tigray in recent weeks.

Tensions have intensified as both the federal government and Tigrayan leaders accuse each other of violating the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended the civil war that killed hundreds of thousands. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has recently moved to restore the prewar regional government and dismantle the interim administration appointed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. The federal government, meanwhile, has repeatedly accused Tigrayan leaders of cooperating with neighboring Eritrea and the Sudanese military.

The renewed confrontation has raised concerns that Eritrea could become involved, potentially leading to wider regional unrest. Ethiopia also continues to grapple with armed insurgencies in Oromia and Amhara, the country's two most-populous regional states. DHS first announced it was ending TPS for Ethiopians in December, under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, saying conditions in Ethiopia were safe. It had already ended TPS for several South and Central American countries, including Venezuela and Honduras.