Tlaib introduces bill to restore protected status for Yemenis in the US

Rep. Rashida Tlaib has introduced a bill to designate Yemen for Temporary Protected Status, a move that would shield Yemenis living in the United States from deportation because of the deteriorating security situation in their home country, The Yemeni American News reported Monday in an exclusive.

The measure, first shared with the outlet, comes after President Donald Trump announced in February that he was revoking TPS for Yemenis as part of his immigration crackdown, a move civil rights advocates decried as arbitrary and cruel. The status was officially terminated in July after a court battle.

Tlaib’s bill is co-sponsored by eight of her fellow Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar and Andre Carson and outgoing Detroit-based Rep. Shri Thanedar. It would compel the Department of Homeland Security to grant TPS to Yemeni nationals for three years.

“The Trump administration is threatening our Yemeni neighbors, and I will not stand for it,” Tlaib told The Yemeni American News in a statement.

“DHS unjustly terminated temporary protected status for Yemen without care for the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe and escalating armed conflict facing the country,” she said.

Tlaib pointed to U.S. military involvement in Yemen and to the Yemeni constituents of her district, which covers Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and parts of Detroit. “The Trump administration was bombing civilians in Yemen as recently as last year and is currently trying to give the Saudi monarchy billions of dollars in bombs and jets to continue the devastation,” she said.

“The State Department explicitly warns against any travel to Yemen, and yet, this president wants to send our neighbors back as part of his racist mass deportation agenda,” she said. “I am proud to represent one of the most Yemeni districts in the country. These are our family members, coworkers, friends, and neighbors. They belong here, and I will not turn my back on them.”

The proposal is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But the bill could renew debate over the plight of Yemenis stuck in limbo and set the stage for a renewed push for a designation in the new Congress, which takes office in January after next month’s midterm elections, the outlet noted.

The State Department currently places Yemen under its highest-level travel advisory, “Do not travel,” citing the risk of terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping and landmines. Under federal guidelines, a country may be designated for TPS when conditions “temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely.”

Over the past year, the Trump administration has terminated TPS for several countries, including some plagued by violence and humanitarian crises such as Haiti, and the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June restricting judges’ ability to weigh in on the designations. Since Trump’s return to the White House, DHS has cancelled or failed to renew TPS for 13 countries, and protections for Lebanon are set to expire next month. Trump ended the protections for Yemenis despite receiving support from some prominent Yemeni American leaders during the 2024 elections, the outlet reported.