Judge blocks Trump from ending deportation protections for Yemenis

Politics Judge blocks Trump administration from ending deportation protections for 2,800 Yemenis By Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn Senior Reporter, Politics Melissa Quinn is a senior reporter for CBSNews.com, where she covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Read Full Bio Melissa Quinn May 1, 2026 / 3:37 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal protections for more than 2,800 Yemeni nationals allowed to temporarily live and work in the United States, finding that the Department of Homeland Security likely acted unlawfully when it moved to end the benefits earlier this year.U.S. District Judge Dale Ho in New York ruled in favor of 16 Yemeni nationals who either have Temporary Protected Status or are applying for the protection. He agreed to keep the program in place while their lawsuit proceeds.Ho, appointed by former President Joe Biden, found that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely violated the law when she failed to adhere to the process mandated by Congress for reviewing a country's conditions before she moved to end TPS for Yemen.The department, he wrote, "acted unlawfully by terminating TPS in clear disregard of the procedural requirements established by Congress."Yemen was first designated for TPS in 2015 during the Obama administration, based on the determination that there was an ongoing armed conflict that made the country unsafe for Yemeni nationals to return to. DHS re-upped the deportation protections several times, including during the first Trump administration. The most recent redesignation came in 2024, which cited an ongoing civil war and humanitarian crises.The State Department has a Level 4 travel advisory in place for Yemen, which warns Americans not to travel to the country because of "terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping and landmines."Nonetheless, in February, Noem announced TPS wou...