Michigan — The American Center for Justice expresses its profound concern and shock regarding the recent decision by the U.S. administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemeni nationals. The Center considers this decision detached from on-the-ground realities and dismissive of international legal and moral obligations toward the most vulnerable populations.
The termination decision is premised on an assumption of “improved conditions” in Yemen, an assumption contradicted by the human rights and humanitarian reality. The Republic of Yemen continues to experience an ongoing armed conflict and a near-total collapse of rights and freedoms. The criteria under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that justified granting protection remain not only valid but have worsened amid escalating security and economic complexities. Any forced or financially “incentivized” return would effectively expose civilians to an uncertain and dangerous fate. Notably, the United States itself continues to designate Yemen as a high-risk country and advises against travel to it.
Returning these individuals would amount to a clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement, as Yemen’s domestic environment lacks even the minimum standards of legal and political safety.
Through its ongoing monitoring of violations inside Yemen, the American Center for Justice affirms that returning Yemenis from the United States at this time would place them in direct confrontation with the repressive apparatus of the Houthi movement, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization. Returnees risk accusations of “collaboration with foreign states,” particularly in light of recent arrest campaigns targeting employees of international organizations and former embassy staff. These incidents demonstrate that mere geographic association with the United States has become sufficient grounds for enforced disappearance and unlawful property confiscation.
The Center rejects claims of the existence of “safe alternative areas” within Yemen. Regions under the internationally recognized government continue to suffer from structural insecurity, severe economic challenges, and weak rule of law, rendering them incapable of absorbing returnees or providing even minimum protection. While ongoing efforts to improve conditions in these areas are important, they have not yet reached a level of sustainable stability that would justify ending international legal protection.
The Center further highlights a critical demographic and rights-based reality overlooked by U.S. decision-makers: the overwhelming majority of Yemenis covered by TPS originate from governorates fully under Houthi control. Forcing them to return would place them before two equally perilous options, either returning to their places of origin and facing risks of arrest, persecution, or even execution on accusations of “loyalty to America,” or becoming internally displaced once again in government-controlled areas already strained by millions of internally displaced persons and lacking the infrastructure to receive them.
Accordingly, it is evident that this decision does not return migrants to their “homes” but instead thrusts them into a renewed cycle of displacement, homelessness, and political persecution.
The American Center for Justice calls on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately reverse the decision to terminate TPS and to reassess conditions in Yemen based on independent, field-based human rights reporting that reflects the actual security and humanitarian situation, free from transient political considerations or incomplete assessments.
The Center also urges the United States Congress to undertake urgent legislative action to safeguard the rights of Yemenis residing in the United States, prevent the politicization or financial bargaining of their humanitarian cases, and establish legal guarantees protecting them from the risk of refoulement.
Furthermore, the Center calls on the U.S. administration to adhere strictly to the human rights principles it proclaims as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, and not to substitute its legal obligations with “financial incentive” programs that undermine the substance of protection, ensuring respect for human dignity and preventing exposure to serious harm upon return.
The Center also urges international human rights organizations, activists, and civil society in the United States to stand united against this unjust decision and to strengthen solidarity in defense of international humanitarian standards against erosion or politicization.
Solidarity with Yemenis at this critical juncture is a defense of the integrity of international humanitarian law and a safeguard against reducing it to administrative tools devoid of legal conscience.
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