Trump dealt court setback in bid to yank protections from Yemeni migrants

A federal judge in New York blocked the Trump administration from revoking temporary protected status (TPS) for migrants from Yemen.

In an order issued on Friday, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ruled the administration did not follow the law.

Ho determined that Congress established TPS with the intent that it should only be revoked once conditions materially improve in the country of origin, and detailed the ongoing violence and conflict in Yemen that render conditions unsafe for the plaintiffs.

"Plaintiffs have no way of avoiding these harms other than through TPS," Ho wrote. "There is nowhere in Yemen where Plaintiffs would be free from their fear of targeted violence. The DHS Notice itself states that [t]he most historically populated regions of Yemen in the north are currently ruled by the de facto Houthi government, including the capital Sana'a ... Even areas far from the front lines are littered with dangers including Al-Qaeda, Houthi-aligned militant groups, and landmine and unexploded ordinance contamination."

This comes after a closely-watched day at the Supreme Court, in which the justices heard oral argument in a very similar case where Trump seeks the ability to unilaterally revoke TPS for people from Haiti and Syria.

Experts who followed the case expect the justices to lean against Trump.