U.S. officials have said the Yemeni nationals will be offered Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for another 18 months, but a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has called the move “an enormous risk to the security and safety of our nation.”
Monday’s announcement by the Department of Homeland Security means Yemeni nationals living in the United States will have additional protection from deportation and will be able to apply for work permits, but it comes as Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to destabilize the Middle Eastern country.
“Yemen is a special interest alien country, and we have to be careful about admitting people with terrorist ties,” former ICE Acting Director Tom Homan told Fox News Digital. “It’s already clear that our current vetting is not enough to protect us from harm, because people with terrorist ties — most of the terrorists out there — are not on any database.”
“We don’t know who most of the terrorists are. [are]So I think this is a very big risk to the safety and security of the country,” he added.
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Houthi supporters took part in a rally in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on March 8. (AP/Osama Abdulrahman)
A “special interest foreign national” is a person from a country that the U.S. government has identified as potentially promoting or harboring terrorism or posing any national security threat to the United States.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the extension will allow an estimated 1,700 Yemeni nationals living in the U.S. to submit “initial applications for TPS,” and will allow approximately 2,300 current recipients “to maintain their TPS status through March 3, 2026 if they continue to meet TPS eligibility requirements.”
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Houthi fighters marched on the outskirts of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in January in a rally calling for support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and opposition to U.S. attacks on Yemen. (AP Photo)
“Yemen has been in a state of protracted conflict for the past decade that has severely limited civilians’ access to water, food and health care, pushed the country to the brink of economic collapse, and prevented Yemenis living abroad from safely returning home,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
“The action taken by the Department of Homeland Security today will allow some Yemenis currently in the United States to remain and work here until the situation in their home country improves,” he added.
In January of this year, the US State Department designated the Houthis as a “Specially Designated International Terrorist Organization.”
“Yemen has been in a state of protracted conflict for the past decade,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said. (John Moore/Getty Images)
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“Since November, the Houthis have launched unprecedented attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as forces deployed in the region to protect the safety and security of commercial shipping,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time. “These attacks on international vessels have put mariners at risk, disrupted the free flow of commerce, and interfered with navigational rights and freedoms.”
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
