The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared that Ethiopia has been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of eighteen months on October 21st, 2022. TPS will only be available to those who are already citizens of the United States as of October 20, 2022. Many Ethiopian citizens are unable to safely return home as a result of conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement. They will be able to stay and work in the country, if they are actively living in the United States already, until circumstances in their country of origin improve.
In most cases, TPS is taken into consideration for citizens of a country when the nation is enduring issues such as ongoing armed conflict, environmental catastrophe, or unusual and temporary conditions. Civilians are at danger of conflict-related violence including assaults, homicides, rape, and other gender-based forms of violence; ethnicity-based detentions; and human rights abuses and breaches.In Ethiopia, the current armed conflict as well as inhumane and unlivable conditions make it impossible for people of Ethiopian descent to return home in a secure manner.
The current TPS for Ethiopia is the first ever received by the country, and the people who qualify for TPS under this classification must have lived in the country continuously since October 20, 2022. After that date, anyone who tries to enter the country will not be qualified for TPS under this categorization. The eighteen-month designation for Ethiopia will take effect on the day the next Federal Register notice is published, and all candidates for TPS must fulfill the qualifying conditions and submit to background and security checks.
