President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is continuing to roll back Temporary Protected Status, which was widely granted to numerous countries under the previous administration’s leadership.
On Friday morning, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a press release announcing that the DHS will terminate TPS for Ethiopia.
‘Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals.’
The current TPS designation was set to expire on Friday. Ethiopian nationals without another lawful basis to remain in the U.S. have 60 days to leave the country.
Those individuals are encouraged to use the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home mobile app to report their departure. They will receive a plane ticket and a $1,000 exit bonus.
The DHS may begin making arrests and deportations after February 13 for those who fail to leave voluntarily. They will not be eligible to return to the U.S.
“Temporary Protected Status designations are time-limited and were never meant to be a ticket to permanent residency,” a USCIS spokesperson stated. “Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals. Since the situation no longer meets the statutory requirements for a TPS designation, [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem is terminating this designation to restore integrity in our immigration system.”
Kristi Noem, Donald Trump. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
TPS was first extended to Ethiopia in December 2022 under former President Joe Biden, whose administration claimed the designation was necessary due to “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
“Ethiopia faces armed conflict in multiple regions of the country resulting in large-scale displacement. In addition, Ethiopia has been experiencing severe climatic shocks exacerbating humanitarian concerns over access to food, water, and health care,” Biden’s DHS stated.
Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended the TPS designation in April 2024.
“While some residual challenges in regions affected by the conflicts remain, there are signs of improvements in the country,” Trump’s DHS wrote in a Federal Register notice that will be published next week.
“The Secretary has determined that, while some sporadic and episodic violence occurs in Ethiopia, the situation no longer meets the criteria for an ongoing armed conflict that poses a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals,” the DHS continued.
Trump’s DHS previously terminated TPS for Burma, Haiti, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. Countries that continue to hold TPS designations into 2026 include El Salvador, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen.
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