Press Statement | October 21, 2022

ECDC Applauds TPS Designation for Ethiopia

Arlington, Va. — Today, the Ethiopian Community Development Council Inc. (ECDC) applauds the Biden Administration for its decision to designate Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Ethiopians. “We welcome President Biden’s and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’s decision to grant Temporary Protected Status for Ethiopia. This critical action will offer relief to Ethiopians in the United States who faced a possible return to a country experiencing one of the most devastating wars and humanitarian crises in the world today, said Tsehaye Teferra, Ph.D., President, and CEO of ECDC.

“We look forward to working with the Administration on additional protections for Ethiopian refugees displaced by the war, including refugee resettlement and more equitable treatment for Black and African refugees and immigrants,” Teferra said.

“The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions engulfing Ethiopia, and DHS is committed to providing temporary protection to those in need,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “Ethiopian nationals currently residing in the U.S. who cannot safely return due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve,’ the statement released today quoted Mayokas as saying.

This will be Ethiopia’s first designation for TPS, covering individuals already residing in the United States as of October 20, 2022.

ECDC and a collation of 100+ organizations led by the Temporary Protected Status Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition (TPS-DED AAC) have called for TPS for Ethiopia and an international humanitarian response since August 2021.

ECDC urges the administration to follow this announcement with a swift release of the Federal Register Notice and immediate cessation of deportations to Ethiopia to ensure protection. ECDC and TPS-DED AAC also calls for Special Student Relief to be granted to the over 2,000 Ethiopian students in the country who are impacted by the crisis in Ethiopia.