January 23, 2025

Media Contacts:

Assefash Makonen, press@africans.us; 646-983-9170

Golnaz Fakhimi, golnaz@muslimadvocates.org; 202-655-2969

Souzen Joseph, SJoseph@haitianbridge.org;  917-399-0128

Ethiopian immigrants and advocacy organizations file an emergency lawsuit to preserve protections for thousands facing unlawful deportation to a country experiencing a humanitarian crisis and armed conflict. 

Boston, MA — Yesterday, African Communities Together (ACT) and three Ethiopian Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) holders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Ethiopia. The lawsuit seeks postponement and ultimately vacatur of the February 13, 2026, termination of the program that has been providing critical protections to the Plaintiffs and thousands of Ethiopians and their families who have built lives in the United States while their home country remains engulfed in armed conflict and life-threatening humanitarian crises.

The Plaintiffs and other Ethiopian TPS holders and applicants are community members who have lived, worked, and built lives in the United States. They will face immediate harm if their TPS protections are imminently and unlawfully stripped away, including loss of immigration status, access to work authorization, and access to public benefits such as healthcare and driver’s licenses, as well as a litany of more extreme harms, including: immigration confinement and deportation proceedings, forced family separation, and forced removal to Ethiopia or other countries where conditions are unsafe. The Plaintiffs are represented by Muslim Advocates, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and Covington & Burling LLP, in a lawsuit coordinated by Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP).

“We filed this suit because our Ethiopian community members deserve basic respect for their rights and their safety,” said Amaha Kassa, Executive Director of African Communities Together (ACT). “The administration’s review of Ethiopia’s TPS designation resulting in the termination decision was motivated wrongly by politics and racism and ignored the rule of law, including the requirement to consider objective evidence of unsafe conditions in Ethiopia. This lawsuit demands that the government follow the law and conduct a fair, thorough review of Ethiopia’s designation.”

“This is part of a deliberate pattern from the Trump administration—targeting Black, Asian, Arab, and other non-white and non-European immigrant communities and favoring white and European immigrants,” said Carolyn Tran, Executive Director of Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP). “When they come for one TPS community, they come for all of us. That’s why CUSP’s member organizations are standing together—from Ethiopia to South Sudan, Haiti to Nepal, Syria to Cameroon. Our cross-community solidarity is our power, and we will continue fighting these racist, unlawful attacks at every turn.”

“The law is clear: TPS decisions must be based on careful review of country conditions, not political whims or discriminatory targeting,” said Erik Crew, Staff Attorney at Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Ethiopian TPS holders deserve the humanitarian protections that Congress intended and codified in statute, and they deserve a government that follows its own legal requirements. We are in Court to demand both.”

“The administration has systematically failed to conduct legally sufficient reviews before terminating TPS for multiple countries, and it has done so with a clear pattern targeting Black and Brown immigrant communities based on politics, pretext, and racism,” said Abbey Koenning-Rutherford, Staff Attorney at Muslim Advocates. “We will hold this administration accountable to the rule of law for our clients, communities, and the pluralistic fabric that defines American society.”

The lawsuit challenges the procedural deficiencies in the government’s periodic review of Ethiopia’s TPS designation and seeks emergency relief to prevent irreparable harm to Ethiopian community members as a result of the unlawful termination.

For years, the U.S. government has designated and redesignated Ethiopia for TPS in recognition of the armed conflict and extraordinary conditions that make it unsafe for Ethiopian nationals to return. These dangerous conditions persist today, with Ethiopia continuing to face active armed conflict across multiple regions, widespread displacement affecting millions, severe food insecurity, and the breakdown of essential infrastructure and services.

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Haitian Bridge Alliance advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black people, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses.

Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP) is a national collaborative of grassroots immigrant-led organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, and build a more inclusive immigrant rights movement that centers the needs and experiences of African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern, and Asian & Pacific Islander immigrants.

African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide.

Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization that uses litigation, policy engagement, and communications strategies to promote justice and equity while protecting the diverse spectrum of Muslim communities from anti-Muslim discrimination in all of its forms.

Covington & Burling LLP has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service. The firm is frequently recognized for its pro bono service, including 12 consecutive rankings as the number one pro bono practice in the U.S. by The American Lawyer. Much of the firm’s pro bono work is anchored in meeting local needs, serving economically disadvantaged individuals and families in our surrounding communities, and in its long history of serving vulnerable clients and important causes throughout the U.S. and the world.