Trump Administration Revokes Temporary Protection Status for Yemenis in America

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Yemen, affecting roughly 1,400 people who had been covered since September 2015. The decision was announced by Kristi Noem, who concluded the country no longer meets statutory requirements.

After reviewing conditions in the country and consulting with appropriate US government agencies, I determined that Yemen no longer meets the law’s requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status.

Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

She added that allowing beneficiaries to remain “is contrary to our national interest.”

Beneficiaries without other legal status have 60 days to depart voluntarily or face arrest and removal proceedings.

Authorities offered a government-funded plane ticket and a $2,600 payment for individuals who “self-deport.”

The TPS designation had last been extended in 2024 and was scheduled to expire on March 3 this year.

Enforcement-First Immigration Policy

The revocation fits a broader enforcement campaign launched after Trump returned to office in 2025. The administration has also removed protections for Venezuelans, Haitians, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Somalis, Ukrainians, Ethiopians, South Sudanese and others.

It simultaneously expanded travel restrictions to citizens of 19 countries including Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan, and partial entry restrictions affecting 29 additional states such as Nigeria and Senegal.

Officials described the measure as “putting America first” while Kristi Noem called the move “a win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution,” arguing that Temporary Protected Status “was never designed to be permanent” and had been used as “a de facto amnesty program for decades.”

She said that, given “the improved situation” in the countries concerned, the administration is ending what was intended to be a temporary designation.

Conflict Assessment Dispute

The determination contrasts with U.S. State Department travel guidance warning citizens not to travel to Yemen due to “terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, and landmines.”

TPS historically applies when war or disaster prevents safe return, and administrations have often renewed designations repeatedly rather than terminate them after nearly a decade.

TPS allows recipients to live and work legally but does not grant permanent residency. More than 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers fall under the current termination order, according to the Department of Homeland Security statement released Friday.

Long-Duration Displacement Question

TPS had been renewed repeatedly for nearly 10 years, illustrating the gap between temporary legal categories and protracted conflicts. The new order converts protected residents into removable migrants if they remain past the 60-day period.

The decision therefore reclassifies a population that had legal presence for almost a decade into an enforcement case, without changing the underlying conflict designation acknowledged by travel advisories.

As such the termination of humanitarian protection for Yemeni nationals marks a shift from renewable crisis relief toward enforcement-first immigration policy, redefining how the United States treats long-duration conflict displacement cases.