Rep. Rashida Tlaib Leads 23 Democrats ‘Demanding’ Trump Administration Restore Yemen TPS

“Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is leading more than 20 House Democrats in pressing the Trump administration to reverse its decision ending Temporary Protected Status for Yemen, arguing that Yemeni nationals living in the United States would face arrest, deportation, and dangerous conditions if returned.

Tlaib wrote on X:

Yemen continues to endure one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. I’m leading my colleagues in demanding that the Trump Admin extends and redesignates Yemen for Temporary Protected Status. Yemeni TPS holders are integral members of our communities. Revoking it would put these families in immediate danger.

Along with her post, Tlaib included a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which she and 23 other House Democrats urged the administration to extend and redesignate Yemen for TPS before the current designation expires on May 4.

The lawmakers said that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) February 13 decision to terminate Yemen’s TPS designation was “utterly disconnected from the reality of the dire security and humanitarian conditions in the country.” The letter states that approximately 1,380 Yemeni TPS holders would face “imminent arrest and deportation” if the administration’s termination is allowed to take effect.

The letter says many Yemeni TPS holders have “established families, careers, and homes in the United States” and would face “life-threatening risks” if forced to return to Yemen.

The lawmakers argued that conditions in Yemen have worsened rather than improved, writing that the country’s humanitarian crisis has been “further inflamed by repeated direct bombings of Yemen by third countries, including our own,” which they said have occurred regularly over the past year. According to the letter, those strikes have killed civilians and damaged critical infrastructure, including ports, airports, and migrant detention centers.

“The United States cannot, in good faith, send our neighbors back to these extremely dangerous conditions,” the lawmakers stated.

The letter describes Yemeni TPS holders as “integral members of our communities,” adding that they are “our friends, our family members, our coworkers, and our neighbors” in states including Michigan, Florida, New York, and California.

The Trump administration announced in February that it would end TPS for Yemen. DHS said at the time that between 2,000 and 4,000 Yemenis living in the United States without another legal status would lose their protections. Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Yemen no longer met the legal requirements for TPS and that keeping Yemeni beneficiaries in the United States was “contrary to our national interest.”

DHS also said Yemenis without another immigration status would have 60 days to self-deport from the United States once TPS is ended. Those who refuse to self-deport would be subject to arrest and deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Yemen first received TPS designation during the Obama administration in 2015. The first Trump administration extended the designation in 2017, 2018, and 2020, and the Biden administration extended it again in 2021, 2023, and 2024.

Tlaib’s push comes as other Democrats have similarly defended TPS for additional migrant groups. Earlier this week, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), one of the signers of the Yemen letter, urged the administration to extend TPS for Haitians. Pressley said Haitian TPS holders are “our neighbors, restaurateurs, and community members who are like family” and called for protecting workers who “make our communities feel like home.”

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments later this month over whether the Trump administration can end TPS protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians.

The renewed debate over Yemen TPS comes as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has joined the Middle East conflict in a limited way in recent weeks, launching missiles and drones toward Israel while threatening to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. On March 31, the Houthis signaled they could resume attacks on Red Sea shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while analysts warned renewed attacks could disrupt global trade, increase shipping and insurance costs, and drive oil prices sharply higher.

 On April 2, the group announced what it called a “Holy Jihad Battle” against Israel in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had launched missiles with their “mujahideen brothers in Iran, and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” though the Israel Defense Forces said all missiles and drones launched from Yemen were intercepted. On April 3, the Houthis claimed to have launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv, while Israeli officials said only one missile was fired from Yemen, that it was intercepted, and that it appeared to be aimed at Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv.

The following lawmakers signed the letter:

• Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI)
• Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
• Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
• Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
• Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY)
• Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)
• Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
• Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA)
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
• Rep. James McGovern (D-MA)
• Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA)
• Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL)
• Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX)
• Rep. André Carson (D-IN)
• Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
• Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL)
• Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI)
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)
• Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA)
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)