A Boston judge has lifted a final administrative stay blocking the end of Temporary Protected Status for more than 5,000 Ethiopians in the United States, clearing another obstacle in the Trump administration’s second-term immigration crackdown, according to reporting by Bethany Blankley for The Center Square.
The move makes Ethiopia the 13th country whose TPS designation has been terminated during President Donald Trump’s second term, The Center Square reported.
Thirteen Countries on the Termination List
According to the report, the countries affected by TPS terminations include Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended the policy in a social media post, arguing that TPS “was used as a defacto amnesty program” and adding that “those days are over.” DHS also warned that people whose TPS has been terminated are now in the country “illegally” and “must leave now or be swiftly deported,” according to The Center Square.
Refugee Admissions Fall Sharply
The TPS development comes as the Pew Research Center reported a steep drop in U.S. refugee admissions during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2026.
According to Pew, the U.S. admitted 10,258 refugees during that period: 10,255 from South Africa and three from Afghanistan. That is down from 38,102 refugees in fiscal year 2025 and 100,034 in fiscal year 2024.
Pew reported that most refugees admitted in fiscal year 2025 came from Afghanistan. In fiscal year 2024, the largest share came from the Congo, followed by Afghanistan.
The Trump administration set the refugee admissions ceiling at 17,500 for the fiscal year, meaning more than 7,000 additional refugees could still be admitted before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Pew noted that the ceiling is the lowest since at least the turn of the century.
U.S. No Longer Leading Refugee Resettlement
Pew also noted that the United States has long been a global leader in refugee resettlement since World War II, consistently ranking among the top two countries in the world for accepting refugees.
But the U.S. now admits fewer refugees than Canada and Australia, Pew reported, citing data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Cost Debate Remains Central
The Center Square also cited a 2018 report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which estimated the annual taxpayer cost of refugee admissions at $1.8 billion at the time and $8.8 billion over five years. FAIR attributed those costs to refugees’ access to welfare and other government assistance programs and estimated the first-five-year cost at just under $79,600 per refugee.
The Center Square previously reported that refugee-related funding increased from less than $2 billion in fiscal year 2021 to nearly $9 billion the following fiscal year, with Afghan refugee admissions contributing significantly to the rise.
Refugees may qualify for a range of federal and state-linked benefits, according to the National Immigration Law Center and federal refugee resettlement materials cited in the report. Those programs can include Supplemental Security Income, SNAP, WIC, housing assistance, Medicaid-related coverage, Children’s Health Insurance Program, federal student aid, refugee cash assistance, job services, English training, translation services and legal assistance tied to immigration status.
The policy fight now centers on whether the administration’s sharp reduction in refugee admissions and TPS protections represents long-promised immigration enforcement or a dramatic retreat from the country’s postwar refugee role.
