Judge Rebuked Twice By Supreme Court Deals New Blow To Trump Immigration Agenda
A federal judge already twice rebuked by the Supreme Court is back at itâthis time blocking the Trump administration from ending legal protections for thousands of Ethiopian migrants.
Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee in Massachusetts, temporarily halted the administrationâs plan to strip temporary protected status (TPS) from more than 5,000 Ethiopiansâa move that would have made them deportable within 60 days.
Murphy said the Department of Homeland Security didnât follow the law when it pulled the plug on the program.
That ruling lands right in the middle of the administrationâs broader push to shrink TPS and tighten immigration enforcement.
But it also lands on a judge with a track record.
Murphy has repeatedly tried to block Trump-era deportation policiesâespecially efforts to send migrants to third countries. The Supreme Court has stepped in twice to reverse him, even issuing a rare 7â2 clarification saying he ignored its orders. An appeals court also shut down one of his more recent rulings just last month.
Critics say this is more of the same.
âThis rogue judge lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to issue this order,â Sen. Eric Schmitt said. âThe assault on the rule of law continues.â
Legal analyst Jonathan Turley piled on, warning that âthis system cannot function with such rogue operators at the trial level.â
Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan pointed to what he sees as a fundamental problem: the law itself.
âOne big problem for Murphy is the statute: It explains TPS determinations arenât reviewable. Another is the Supreme Court, which has stopped similar orders twice,â Wessan said. âHe finds neither statute nor SCOTUS stops him. Iâm unconvinced.â
Murphy, for his part, insists heâs not defying the high court. He noted that the Supreme Court hasnât fully explained its recent TPS-related rulingsâand hasnât stepped in on every similar case.
âThere is no reason to assumeâ the justices have settled the issue, he wrote.
The lawsuit behind the ruling claims the administrationâs TPS rollback isnât just proceduralâitâs discriminatory. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue the policy is aimed at reducing non-white immigration, writing that the effort targets âthe nationals of majority Black countriesâ in particular.
The Justice Department is expected to appeal, setting up yet another round in a growing legal fight between the Trump administration and a judge who keeps standing in its way.














