Federal Courts and TPS

Judge Brian Murphy, a 2024 Biden appointee, blocked the Trump-era Department of Homeland Security's plan to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Ethiopia — a move that would have affected more than 5,000 Ethiopian TPS holders and, under DHS's timetable, made them deportable within 60 days. Murphy's memorandum said DHS acted "without regard for the process delineated by Congress" and framed the dispute in constitutional terms, while DHS condemned the decision as a stay by a "radical, Biden-appointed" judge and said Ethiopia no longer meets TPS criteria; conservative critics contend courts lack jurisdiction over TPS determinations and point to recent Supreme Court stays in related cases.