A federal district court in Manhattan issued an order on Friday preventing the termination of temporary protected status for approximately 3,000 Yemeni nationals residing in the United States, with the protection set to expire on May 4.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho delivered a 36-page ruling that criticized the government’s approach to ending the protective designation, finding that officials had failed to present new arguments distinguishing this case from previous unsuccessful attempts to terminate similar protections for other nations.
The judge noted that district courts across the country have consistently rejected government efforts to end temporary protected status for more than half a dozen countries over the past six months. Each court that examined the primary arguments in these cases has granted motions to postpone or invalidate the terminations for failing to follow congressional procedures.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of Yemeni nationals who challenged the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to strip their protections. Judge Ho found that many plaintiffs would lose access to critical medical care and face separation from their families if the termination proceeded as scheduled.
Temporary protected status provides work authorization and deportation protection for migrants from designated countries facing dangerous conditions. Yemen received this designation in 2015 due to its ongoing civil war. The program requires periodic review, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to extend or revoke designations based on evolving country conditions.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced in February that the department would terminate Yemen’s designation after reviewing country conditions and consulting with government agencies. Noem stated that Yemen no longer met the legal requirements for the designation and that allowing beneficiaries to remain in the United States was contrary to national interests.
The administration has attempted to terminate temporary protected status for 13 countries total, with courts largely rejecting these efforts. The ruling noted that every district court examining the procedural arguments has sided against the government’s termination attempts.
Judge Ho emphasized in his ruling that the Yemeni status holders are law-abiding individuals who received their designation because the government repeatedly determined that Yemen faces ongoing armed conflict, making their return a serious safety threat.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to the ruling by stating that temporary protections are meant to be temporary and suggested that activist judges were legislating from the bench.
This decision arrives as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review similar lower court rulings that blocked the termination of protections for more than 350,000 Haitians and over 6,000 Syrians. The high court’s conservative majority could potentially reverse these lower court decisions.
Judge Ho acknowledged the possibility of Supreme Court intervention but determined that the urgency of the situation, with termination just three days away, required immediate action to prevent approximately 3,000 people from losing their legal status.
The temporary protected status program was established to provide humanitarian relief for nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. Recipients must meet specific eligibility requirements and undergo background checks to maintain their status.
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