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A Biden-appointed judge who was twice impeached by the Supreme Court has temporarily blocked another priority for the Trump administration, delaying the end of temporary protected status for Ethiopians living in the US.
Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts, who has become a legal heavyweight in the Trump administration, found that the Department of Homeland Security did not follow the correct principles when it decided to cancel the temporary protection status (TPS) of more than 5,000 Ethiopians in the United States. The DHS decision would have made immigrants eligible for deportation in 60 days and would have been in line with the Trump administration’s goal of significantly reducing the government’s use of TPS as part of the immigration crackdown.
Conservative members lashed out at Murphy on social media for the president’s handling of another loss they see as unfair. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said the decision was not subject to judicial review under federal immigration law. Murphy had found that DHS did not meet the conditions required under the law to legally cancel TPS.
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The Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, DC (AP/Jon Elswick)
“This Corrupt Judge has no authority to issue this order,” Schmitt said. “Legislation continues.”
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley pointed out in his writings about Murphy, saying “this system will not work with a staff of this caliber.”
Murphy emerged as a thorn in the side of the government when he issued a series of rulings last year barring DHS from deporting immigrants to countries other than their countries of origin, prompting the Supreme Court to reverse its decisions twice, including issuing a rare 7-2 ruling that Murphy had ignored the high court’s order.
His latest order, which doubled down on his previous rulings in the case, was overturned by an appeals court last month.
Murphy noted that he was not criticizing the Supreme Court for its view on TPS after the justices issued emergency decisions that cleared the way for the repeal of TPS in some countries, while participating in advocacy for others.
“Note that the Supreme Court did not provide an explanation for its recent stay of related, but dissimilar, district court orders. … Nor did the Supreme Court explain its subsequent decision not to allow the district court orders to be consolidated twice,” Murphy wrote, saying that therefore, there is “no reason to adopt” the Supreme Court’s view on TPS.
Judge Brian E. Murphy speaks at his confirmation hearing for the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17, 2024. (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Iowa Attorney General Eric Wessan said the law does not allow judges to weigh in on TPS and noted the Supreme Court’s position.
“The biggest problem with Murphy’s law: it states that TPS decisions are not reviewable. The other is the Supreme Court – which has suspended the same orders twice!” Wessan said. “He can’t get the law or SCOTUS to stop him. I don’t believe it.”
Last month, Murphy also temporarily suspended Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The move drew strong criticism from conservatives, who accused Murphy of activism and preferred “science” to the case.
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President Donald Trump looks on as newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
The TPS lawsuit, brought this year by an immigrant advocacy group and three Ethiopians with protected status, alleges that DHS violated immigration laws and acted callously by illegally discriminating against Ethiopian immigrants by canceling them. DHS has canceled TPS for a series of countries, “with the express purpose of significantly reducing the number of non-white and non-European citizens in the United States,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote in the complaint.
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“That enthusiasm and related rhetoric has been very prominent in the majority of the nation’s Black population,” the lawyers wrote.
The Justice Department could challenge Murphy’s decision, which would lead to a legal escalation of the landmark case before him. Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of the DOJ and Murphy for comment.
