A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from stripping temporary deportation protections for nearly 3,000 Yemeni nationals living in the US, marking the latest legal setback for the president's immigration crackdown.

US District Judge Dale Ho ruled on Friday in favor of a group of Yemenis who had sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over plans to end their Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

TPS grants people from countries suffering conflict, natural disasters, and other dangerous conditions temporary protection against deportation. The Trump administration has sought to end TPS designations for 13 different countries, but these efforts have largely been blocked in court.

The conservative-majority US Supreme Court agreed earlier this week to consider an appeal from the administration challenging similar rulings that blocked the government from ending protections for more than 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,100 from Syria.

A DHS decision ending TPS for Yemenis, first announced in February, was set to take effect on Monday before being blocked by Judge Ho.

Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed at the time that Yemen "no longer meets the law's requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status," despite persistent concerns over conflict and humanitarian conditions.

The Middle Eastern nation was also one of 12 countries placed on a travel ban issued by the Trump administration last year. US State Department travel advisories warn against traveling to Haiti, Syria, and Yemen due to threats such as terrorism, kidnapping, and civil unrest. Advocates argue that sending migrants back to those countries would endanger their lives.

Source: www.aljazeera.com