A Biden-appointed federal judge has again halted the Trump administration’s effort to end temporary protected status for Ethiopians living in the United States, blocking a policy that was supposed to take effect months ago.
Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued the order April 8, ruling that the Department of Homeland Security terminated Ethiopia’s TPS designation without following the process Congress established. Murphy was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2024.
“Because Defendants terminated Ethiopia’s TPS designation without regard for the process delineated by Congress, the Court will grant Plaintiffs’ motion,” Murphy wrote in the memorandum and order.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had issued a notice last December indicating that Ethiopia’s TPS designation would be terminated as of Feb. 13 at 11:59 p.m. Legal challenges stalled that deadline.
Murphy’s ruling leaned heavily on separation of powers language. “Fundamental to this case and indeed to our constitutional system is the principle that the will of the President does not supersede that of Congress,” he wrote. “Presidential whims do not and cannot supplant agencies’ statutory obligations.”
DHS fired back, calling Murphy a judicial activist.
“This stay by radical, Biden-appointed Judge Brian Murphy is just the latest example of judicial activists trying to prevent President Trump from restoring integrity to America’s legal immigration system,” the agency said in a statement. “Temporary means temporary. Country conditions, including armed conflicts, in Ethiopia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status. The Trump administration is putting Americans first.”
The administration has argued that Ethiopia’s security situation no longer meets the statutory threshold for TPS protection, which requires that ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions make it unsafe for nationals to return.
The ruling is part of a broader pattern of Biden-era judicial appointees blocking Trump immigration enforcement. Murphy is the same judge who has previously clashed with the administration on immigration issues, earning rebukes from the Supreme Court on prior rulings.
