A U.S. federal judge, Brian E. Murphy, on Tuesday backed President Donald Trump’s administration, ruling it can terminate temporary protected status (TPS) that allows Ethiopians to live and work in the United States.

Mr Murphy turned down a request from African Communities Together, a pro-African immigrants organisation in the U.S., to postpone the termination of TPS for more than 5,000 Ethiopians.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a post on X on Tuesday said: “All TPS terminations are now In Effect. Those with terminated TPS should leave now. If they don’t, we will deport them.”

The court’s verdict now puts over 5,000 Ethiopians living and working in America on TPS at risk of being deported.

Amid armed conflict in Ethiopia in 2022, former President Joe Biden’s administration granted some citizens of Ethiopia 18-month temporary protection from deportation in the U.S.

In 2024, then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended TPS for Ethiopians because of the lingering crisis in the country.

Last week, a federal judge backed Mr Trump’s administration to end legal protection against deportation for nearly 1,100 Somalis.

In January, Mr Trump’s administration announced plans to terminate Somalia’s TPS designation.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that conditions in the countries where their citizens live and work in the U.S. under TPS had improved enough to end the humanitarian protections.