American Center for Justice Urges Washington to Reconsider and Withdraw Termination of Temporary Protected Status and Redesignate Yemen for TPS

Says recent developments on the ground and the reported Houthi capture of Mokha warrant an urgent reassessment of the risks of return

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) has urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reconsider and withdraw its decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemeni nationals, and called on the Department to extend and redesignate Yemen for TPS in light of renewed armed conflict and rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions.

In a letter addressed by its President, Latifa Jamel, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Center explained that the conditions underlying Washington’s initial designation of Yemen for TPS in September 2015 remain in place. The letter noted that recent developments on the ground have instead materially worsened the security environment, following an escalation of armed hostilities across multiple fronts and significant territorial advances by Houthi forces, including the reported capture of the strategic port city of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, alongside intensified ballistic missile and armed drone attacks, resulting in new waves of displacement, particularly in Taiz and Al Hodeidah.

The memorandum emphasized that this escalation compounds longstanding protection concerns, foremost among them arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, amid a humanitarian crisis in which more than 22 million people are estimated to require humanitarian assistance and protection in 2026. These circumstances are directly relevant to Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate a country for TPS where armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions pose a serious threat to the safety of returning nationals.

The Center called on the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the termination decision, extend TPS protections for current Yemeni beneficiaries to prevent their removal and ensure their continued authorization to work for as long as the risks persist, and redesignate Yemen for TPS to include newly arrived nationals by updating the date-of-entry requirement, while conducting an expedited review of current conditions on the ground before the termination takes effect.