The Department of Homeland Security terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemenis on Feb. 13.
“After reviewing conditions in the country and consulting with appropriate U.S. government agencies, I determined that Yemen no longer meets the law’s requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a press release on Feb. 13.
Yemen was given Temporary Protected Status in September 2015, after operations at the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a were suspended in February the same year due to conflict and a “high level of insecurity” within the country.
The TPS status for Yemen was extended in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.
“TPS was designed to be temporary, and this administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” Noem added.
Noem suggested that allowing Yemeni beneficiaries to temporarily stay in the United States “is contrary to our national interest.”
“We are prioritizing our national security interests and putting America first,” Noem said.
Yemen nationals who were in the United States under TPS have 60 days to voluntarily leave the nation.
They will receive a free plane ticket, a $2,600 exit bonus, and be eligible to re-enter the country legally in the future.
Any person who does not leave within the two-month timeline faces the prospect of being removed by DHS and will never be allowed back into the United States.
Yemen is still considered dangerous for Americans to visit, according to a travel advisory from the U.S. Department of State issued on Dec. 19.
The Middle Eastern country has a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” designation due to risk of terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, and landmines.
Noem called it “a win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution.”
“Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation,” Noem wrote on her X account on Feb. 9.
The unanimous decision lifted a previous federal judge’s ruling blocking the removal of TPS status for immigrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
“TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades,” Noem added.
Nearly 89,000 people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua have been living in the United States under temporary status.
The Department of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions such as a civil war, environmental disaster, or an epidemic.
