Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Ending Deportation Protections for 2,800 Yemenis A federal judge in New York has halted the Trump administration’s plan to terminate deportation protections for over 2,800 Yemeni nationals granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho ruled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) likely violated federal law by bypassing the procedural requirements mandated by Congress when it sought to end the program earlier this year. The decision preserves the TPS protections for Yemeni immigrants while their legal challenge proceeds. Ho, a Biden appointee, found that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted unlawfully by failing to follow the statutory process for reviewing a country’s conditions before terminating TPS for Yemen. The judge criticized the agency for “short-circuiting” the required review process, which is designed to ensure public accountability and transparency. The ruling emphasized that TPS holders from Yemen are ordinary individuals who have been granted temporary residency due to the ongoing conflict in their home country, which the government has repeatedly deemed unsafe for return. Yemen was first designated for TPS in 2015 under the Obama administration, based on the presence of an ongoing armed conflict that posed significant risks to Yemeni nationals. The designation was renewed multiple times, including during the first Trump administration, and most recently in 2024, which cited continued civil war and humanitarian crises as justification. Despite a State Department travel advisory warning Americans against visiting Yemen due to terrorism, unrest, and health risks, the DHS announced in February 2025 that TPS for Yemen would end.#department_of_homeland_security #kristi_noem #temporary_protected_status #judge_dale_ho #yemeni_nationals
