A grant of Temporary Protective Status (TPS) is akin to temporary asylum status for everyone from a given country that is affected by (1) armed conflict, (2) natural disaster, or (3) “extraordinary and temporary conditions” that make return unsafe, unless, for this last category alone, the DHS Secretary determines that permitting that country’s nationals to remain in the U.S. is “contrary to the national interest.” Once the DHS Secretary grants TPS status for a country, that country’s nationals have to apply individually for status, and are carefully vetted for criminal history and other grounds of inadmissibility. They then receive work authorizations. DHS typically renews the country’s status periodically (for periods up to 18 months) for as long as the conditions that prompted the initial grant persist.
Yemeni nationals have had Temporary Protected Status for over a decade. Administration after administration, across both parties, extended that protection because the facts demanded it. More than 3,200 Yemeni nationals now depend on TPS: approximately 2,800 who hold the status today, and another 425 with applications pending. Their lives here — families, homes, and careers — are built on that promise: Now, after more than a decade of protection, the government has ripped it away and given them sixty days to uproot and dismantle their lives.
Background on Yemen TPS
DHS first granted TPS status for Yemen in 2015, renewing it periodically since then through multiple administrations. The basis for the grant was both the ongoing civil war in Yemen—“armed conflict”—as well as the “extraordinary” humanitarian conditions on the ground that rendered it unsafe for Yemenis in the U.S. to return. The continuing civil war in Yemen has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 23 million people—three quarters of the population—in need of some form of aid.
DHS itself has stated that there is a “widespread lack of basic public services including electricity, healthcare, water, and sanitation services,” with 4.5 million people internally displaced, “80 [percent] of the population in Yemen liv[ing] below the poverty line as the fragile economy remains on the brink of collapse,” and “approximately 17 million people considered food insecure and 3.5 million reported to be acutely malnourished.” The State Department recently noted that “[n]ongovernmental actors, including tribal militias, the Houthi terrorist militia, and other terrorist groups (including al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula and a local branch of ISIS), committed significant abuses with impunity. … [B]etween 60 percent and 70 percent of the country’s population lived in Houthi-controlled areas.” The State Department continues to maintain a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Yemen, which warns that “U.S. citizens should not travel to Yemen for any reason,” “due to risk of terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, and landmines,” adding: “A civil war continues in Yemen,” where “conflict has destroyed basic infrastructure like housing, medical facilities, schools, and utilities.” The State Department advises Americans who do travel to “make a will.”
Understanding the Termination of Yemen TPS
Secretary Noem’s termination of Yemen TPS did not emerge from the deliberative process Congress required when it created the program. She did not engage with the State Department's contrary findings and did not explain how a country at war for a decade suddenly became safe to return to. Instead, she stated that continuing the program for Yemenis was against the “national interest”—a rationale no prior Secretary had ever used to end TPS in the program's 35-year history. The agency’s own findings give up the game: the Notice concedes that “extraordinary and temporary conditions” still prevent Yemenis from returning safely, then terminates their protection anyway.
The record reveals what drove this decision. President Trump campaigned on ending TPS and described Yemeni immigrants as “known terrorists” who “want to blow up our country.” Defendant Noem dismissed TPS as an “immigration scheme” and branded immigrants “foreign invaders” and “leeches.” The administration has systematically dismantled humanitarian protection for nationals of non-white countries while fast-tracking refugee admissions for white South Africans.
The termination of TPS for Yemen violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Together with extraordinary plaintiffs representing a class of Yemeni nationals, we’re asking the court to set it aside before the expiration of the program on May 5, 2026. See our case page for more information about Doe v. Noem.
Relatedly, in April, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases challenging the suspension of TPS for Haiti and Syria, which directly affect over 350,000 TPS holders from those countries. A decision is expected before the end of June.