Noem Ends Temporary Protected Status for Yemenis, Citing National Interest

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Friday that the United States is ending Temporary Protected Status for Yemen, according to Al Jazeera and The National News Desk, requiring beneficiaries who have no other legal basis to stay to leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

Noem said Yemen “no longer meets the law’s requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status,” according to Al Jazeera and The National News Desk, and that allowing TPS Yemen beneficiaries to remain temporarily in the United States is “contrary to our national interest.” The National News Desk and Newsweek also quoted her saying TPS “was designed to be temporary.” Al Jazeera noted that DHS did not explain how it assessed conditions in Yemen or how keeping Yemenis in the United States harms the national interest.

Newsweek reported that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the status will end within 60 days, and Al Jazeera said those with no other lawful basis to stay have 60 days to leave voluntarily or face arrest. Al Jazeera, which was the only outlet to report it, said people who “self-deport” are offered a free plane ticket and a $2,600 “exit bonus,” and that the status had been set to expire March 3 after its last extension in 2024; those two details were not independently confirmed. Newsweek said Yemeni holders are encouraged to use the CBP Home app.

The number affected differs by account. Al Jazeera’s first report said more than 1,000 people and later put the figure at roughly 1,400, the same estimate given by The National News Desk. Newsweek, by contrast, reported that about 3,000 Yemeni immigrants are being told to self-deport and that the last extension covered at least 2,300 people.

Yemen has had TPS since 2015 because of armed conflict, according to Al Jazeera, The National News Desk and Newsweek. The National News Desk said more than 4 million people have been displaced since the civil war began, and that DHS extended the status for more than a decade, including twice during the first Trump administration. Newsweek reported that the status was extended six times from 2017 through 2024, the last under then-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Al Jazeera noted that the State Department advises Americans against travel to Yemen.

The decision adds to a broader pullback from the program. The National News Desk said Yemen is the 13th country to lose TPS under the Trump administration and that DHS has sought to strip the status from more than a million immigrants. Al Jazeera and Newsweek both listed Venezuelans, Hondurans, Haitians and Nicaraguans among those whose protection the administration has ended. Newsweek reported that a federal appeals court allowed the termination for Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua on Feb. 9, while Haiti’s status remains in effect for now under a court order. The National News Desk said an appeals court last month ruled the terminations for Venezuelan and Haitian citizens unlawful and racially motivated.

The administration’s position, as stated by Noem, is that the law’s requirements for the status are no longer met and that the program was meant to be temporary.