Ethiopians have won a crucial court case against the Donald Trump administration over its attempts to expel them from the US.
A US federal judge on Wednesday, 8 April, blocked a move to end legal protections granted to over 5,000 Ethiopians under a policy known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The programme, which was first introduced in 1990, allows immigrants to live and work in the United States and protects them from being deported.
It is available to people whose home countries have experienced natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events that put them at risk.
Over the years, thousands of migrants, mainly from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, have benefited.
Immigration crackdown
However, the Trump administration, pursuing an immigration crackdown under its "America First" agenda, has sought to scrap the long-standing policy for nationals of at least 13 countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Cameroon and South Sudan.
The ruling in favour of Ethiopians by District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston marked the latest legal setback for the US Department of Homeland Security's efforts to end the Temporary Protected Status.
On 30 January, Judge Murphy had issued a temporary order blocking the termination of protections for Ethiopians, which was set to take effect on 13 February.
The Joe Biden administration first granted Ethiopians already in the United States that status beginning in 2022, citing the need to protect the East African nation's citizens from armed conflict and humanitarian suffering. The status was extended in April 2024.
Conflicts in Ethiopia
However, the Trump administration announced in December last year it would end TPS for Ethiopians, saying conditions in their home country were safe for return.
It has repeatedly said TPS was "never meant to be a ticket to permanent residency".
The case was filed by three Ethiopian nationals and the group African Communities Together, arguing the Trump administration ignored persisting dangers in Ethiopia, where armed conflict continues in some regions.
The plaintiffs said the reason given by the government for ending TPS was just a pretext, adding the Trump administration's action was based on an "unconstitutional bias" against non-White immigrants.
Some Somalis had also filed a similar court case in March, challenging plans to terminate their TPS rights.
