Last updated: August 19, 2026
If you are one of the roughly 5,000 Ethiopian nationals who held Temporary Protected Status when this fight started, the last eight months have brought a stay, a court-ordered postponement, a Supreme Court decision, an appeals court reversal, and now the termination of Ethiopia’s TPS designation effective August 18, 2026. Although one constitutional claim remains pending in federal court, there is currently no court order keeping Ethiopia TPS in effect. This is not a situation where a single answer holds steady for long. At Getachew & Ansari Immigration Attorneys, P.C., our team handles Temporary Protected Status cases for clients throughout San Jose and the Bay Area, and we are laying out exactly what the record shows as of today, including the parts that are genuinely still unresolved.
What Happened to TPS Ethiopia in December 2025?
In December 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined that Ethiopia no longer met the conditions required for a Temporary Protected Status designation. DHS published that decision in the Federal Register on December 15, 2025, setting a termination date of February 13, 2026, following a 60-day transition period. The termination was projected to affect roughly 5,000 people who held TPS under Ethiopia’s designation.
This was not the first time TPS Ethiopia faced an uncertain future. Our firm covered the program’s prior extension and redesignation in 2024, when DHS extended and redesignated Ethiopia for TPS for 18 months, from June 13, 2024 through December 12, 2025. The December 2025 termination decision reversed that course entirely, and it did not go unchallenged.
How Did a Federal Court Initially Stop the Termination?
On January 30, 2026, Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts stayed the termination in African Communities Together et al. v. Noem, No. 1:26-cv-10278-BEM, while the court considered the plaintiffs’ emergency motion. On April 8, 2026, Judge Murphy went further, granting the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the effective date of the termination while the underlying case continued, finding that DHS had acted without regard for the process Congress set out in the TPS statute. That order kept the termination on hold, not because DHS reversed its decision, but because the court found the agency likely had not followed the law in reaching it.
What Did the Supreme Court Decide in Mullin v. Doe?
On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Mullin v. Doe, a consolidated case involving challenges to TPS terminations for Syria and Haiti, not Ethiopia. In a 6-3 decision, the Court held that the TPS statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(5)(A), bars judicial review of nonconstitutional challenges to the Secretary’s decisions on TPS designation, termination, or extension, including claims framed as procedural defects under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Court separately considered an equal protection claim brought by the Haitian plaintiffs and concluded they were unlikely to succeed on it, since the government had offered a race-neutral explanation for the termination.
The ruling significantly narrowed the legal grounds available to challenge TPS termination decisions generally, since most existing challenges, including the original Ethiopia case, relied on exactly the kind of procedural APA arguments the Court found barred. It did not hold that every constitutional claim is automatically foreclosed, which matters for what happened next.
What Happened to the Ethiopia Case After Mullin?
Litigation over Ethiopia’s TPS did not end with Mullin. In the weeks after the decision, Judge Murphy issued a new administrative stay while the court considered whether the plaintiffs could pursue constitutional claims that Mullin left open. On July 29, 2026, the First Circuit Court of Appeals granted the government’s request for summary reversal of the district court’s postponement order, concluding that the nonconstitutional claims supporting that order were foreclosed by Mullin. The First Circuit remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision.
On August 18, 2026, Judge Murphy lifted the remaining administrative stay and denied the plaintiffs’ renewed request to postpone the TPS termination. The court dismissed Counts I through IV and VI through VIII of the lawsuit but allowed Count V, the plaintiffs’ remaining constitutional discrimination claim, to continue. With the administrative stay lifted, there was no longer a court order preventing DHS from implementing the Ethiopia TPS termination.
Is Your TPS Status Valid Right Now?
No. Ethiopia’s Temporary Protected Status designation is currently terminated.
After the district court lifted the remaining administrative stay on August 18, 2026, USCIS announced that Ethiopia’s TPS designation was terminated effective August 18, 2026. There is currently no court order keeping the designation in effect.
For someone who relied solely on Ethiopia TPS, this means TPS-based protection from removal and TPS-based employment authorization are no longer in effect. The termination does not necessarily mean that every former beneficiary has no other lawful basis to remain or work in the United States. Some individuals may have another immigration status, separate employment authorization, a pending immigration application, or another potential form of relief.
The litigation itself is not over. The plaintiffs’ remaining constitutional discrimination claim continues in federal court, but that pending claim does not currently reinstate Ethiopia TPS.
Are Your Work Permits Still Valid?
Employment Authorization Documents based solely on Ethiopia TPS are no longer valid. Following the August 18 termination, USCIS and E-Verify guidance states that Forms I-766 with category A12 or C19 issued to Ethiopia TPS beneficiaries are no longer valid and that employers must reverify affected employees’ authorization to work.
Some former TPS beneficiaries may have employment authorization based on another immigration category. If you have another status or pending immigration application, check the category and validity of your current employment authorization rather than assuming that the termination of Ethiopia TPS necessarily ends every possible basis for employment authorization.
What Does the End of Ethiopia TPS Mean for Former Beneficiaries?
The consequences of the termination depend on each person’s broader immigration circumstances. A former Ethiopia TPS beneficiary who has no other lawful status, pending protection, or other legal basis to remain may become subject to immigration enforcement or removal proceedings.
Other former TPS beneficiaries may have a separate immigration status, a pending family-based case, asylum or another humanitarian application, adjustment of status eligibility, or another potential basis to remain in the United States. The termination of TPS does not automatically determine the outcome of those separate matters.
Prior removal orders, entry history, unlawful presence, pending applications, and other immigration issues can substantially change the legal consequences for an individual former TPS beneficiary.
Should You Wait for the Case to Resolve, or Act Now?
Waiting is understandable, especially when the legal picture keeps shifting under you. But because Ethiopia TPS has now terminated, former beneficiaries should find out promptly whether you have another path to lawful status, rather than waiting for a final answer in the remaining litigation. Depending on individual immigration history, some TPS holders may have other potential avenues, such as family-based immigration, asylum or other humanitarian relief, or adjustment of status where the statutory requirements are met. None of those is automatic. Entry history, prior removal orders, admission or parole status, and other case-specific facts all matter, and an attorney can review your situation honestly rather than assume a general pathway applies to you.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself Right Now?
A few practical steps make sense now that Ethiopia TPS has terminated:
- Determine whether you have any current basis for employment authorization separate from Ethiopia TPS. EADs based solely on Ethiopia TPS in categories A12 or C19 are no longer valid.
- Keep copies of the court orders and USCIS alerts relevant to your case, since your specific procedural posture may matter if your status is ever questioned.
- Ask an immigration attorney whether you have any other potential path to lawful status, and be honest about your full immigration history so the answer is accurate.
- Do not rely on a previously issued TPS travel authorization without first determining whether it remains usable following termination of the Ethiopia TPS designation. International travel can affect admissibility, unlawful presence, pending applications, prior removal orders, and other immigration issues, so obtain case-specific advice before departing the United States.
- Continue monitoring USCIS and the litigation for any new agency action or court order that changes the current status of Ethiopia TPS.
Common Questions About TPS Ethiopia in 2026
Do I need to re-register for TPS because of the litigation?
No new re-registration period has been announced, and Ethiopia’s TPS designation is currently terminated. Do not file a TPS re-registration solely because the remaining litigation continues unless USCIS issues new instructions or an attorney advises that a filing is appropriate for your individual situation.
What if I did not re-register, or my TPS application was denied, before this litigation started?
The court orders in this case do not automatically cure every prior filing or eligibility problem. The effect depends on your specific filing history, the reason TPS was not granted or maintained, and whether you fall within the group the applicable court order actually protects. Talk to an attorney about your specific history rather than assuming the litigation resolved an existing problem.
Does the ongoing lawsuit mean Ethiopia TPS is still valid?
No. Although one constitutional claim remains pending in federal court, there is currently no court order keeping Ethiopia’s TPS designation in effect. USCIS states that the designation terminated effective August 18, 2026. The continued existence of the lawsuit does not itself provide TPS status or TPS-based employment authorization.
Will Ethiopia’s TPS designation be extended or redesignated?
No new extension or redesignation has been announced. Ethiopia’s TPS designation is currently terminated. The remaining constitutional claim continues in federal court, but unless a court issues new relief or DHS takes new action, former Ethiopia TPS beneficiaries should not assume that the designation will be reinstated.
Contact an Experienced TPS Lawyer at Getachew & Ansari Immigration Attorneys, P.C.
Uncertainty about your immigration status affects every part of life, from whether you can safely visit family abroad to whether you can plan more than a few weeks ahead, let alone months. At Getachew & Ansari Immigration Attorneys, P.C., we understand that weight personally. Attorney Medya Ansari and her entire family came to the United States from Iran in 2004, and when her father was unable to return to the country because of the 2016 travel ban, her family lived through the same kind of uncertainty many Ethiopian former TPS beneficiaries are facing right now.
Our firm serves clients in San Jose and throughout the Bay Area in English, Amharic, Spanish, Dari, and Farsi. If you want to understand exactly where your immigration status stands following the termination of Ethiopia TPS, or whether you should be pursuing another path to lawful status, call our team at 408-292-7995 or visit our contact page to schedule a consultation. Learn more about our firm before you call. You do not have to track this litigation on your own.
