TPS

Sept. 5 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration for now from ending Temporary Protected Status for more than 1.1 million migrants from Venezuela and Haiti.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ruled that the change unlawfully “truncated and condensed” the timeline to end temporary legal protections and work permits for people who fled the two Latin American nations. He was appointed by President Barack Obama.

About 600,000 Venezuelans had their protections expire in April or on Sept. 10. They have fled political unrest, mass unemployment and hunger since receiving their protected status in 2021. The ruling affects 500,000 from Haiti.

The Department of Homeland Security has attempted to end the status for several countries. Separate litigation is ongoing for migrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua.

“This case arose from action taken post haste by the current DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, to revoke the legal status of Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders, sending them back to conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries,” Chen wrote in a 69-page decision. “The Secretary’s action in revoking TPS was not only unprecedented in the manner and speed in which it was taken but also violates the law.”

The decision only temporarily halted the agency from deporting them. But Chen said he expects Venezuelans will be able to renew this status while the case goes through the courts, including appeals, and ultimately the Supreme Court.

Earlier, he halted a TPS order for several hundred thousand Venezuelans. But the Supreme Court in May allowed the Trump administration to end the program as it goes through the courts.

Chen said his new decision concerned only preliminary relief, and the high court didn’t bar him from deciding on the case based upon its merits under the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the rule-making process of the agency.

In planning to appeal, Noem said the government will “use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos and prioritize the safety of Americans.”

“For decades the TPS program has been abused, exploited, and politicized as a de facto amnesty program. Its use has been all the more dangerous given the millions of unvetted illegal aliens the Biden Administration let into this country,” the statement obtained by CBS News read.

The Trump administration has argued that conditions in Venezuela and Haiti have improved sufficiently to end those protections.

TPS was established in 1990 to allow for temporary immigrant protections for people experiencing wars, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

“For 35 years, the TPS statute has been faithfully executed by presidential administrations from both parties, affording relief based on the best available information obtained by the Department of Homeland Security,” Chen wrote. “This case arose from action taken post haste by the current DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, to revoke the legal status of Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders, sending them back to conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries.”

When Donald Trump was president during his first term, he attempted to end TPS for several countries, including Haiti. Court cases were blocked during his presidency.

When Joe Biden was president, he designated Venezuela as part of TPS, covering 600,000 migrants. It was expanded to Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti and Ukraine.

Haiti was first designated the protection after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010. The nation faces widespread hunger and gang violence.

Two years later in 2023, he extended protections for those from Venezuela and Haiti.

When Trump became president again in January, Noem sought to reverse the extension for Venezuela and then sought to terminate the designation entirely. Haitians also were included, as well as those from other countries.

“As a matter of law, the Secretary lacked the implicit authority to vacate,” Chen wrote. “Even if she had such authority, there is no genuine dispute that she exceeded that authority.”

The National TPS Alliance and Venezuelan TPS holders in February challenged Noem’s decisions.

“From Day 1, Secretary Noem acted with a sole intent of stripping TPS-holders of their legal status whether or not there was a basis for it,” Emi MacLean, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Northern California, which represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “This decision recognizes the illegality of that. As a result, TPS protections should go back into effect immediately.”

Aug. 1 (UPI) — A federal judge has ruled to postpone the Trump administration’s termination of deportation protections for tens of thousands of migrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua amid litigation.

Judge Trina Thompson of the U.S. District Court in Northern California issued her strongly worded order Thursday, delaying the termination of Temporary Protected Status until at least Nov. 18, when a hearing is scheduled to hear the merits of the case.

The ruling is a win for immigration advocates, who have been fighting Trump’s crackdown on immigration and policies seeking to mass-deport migrants in the country.

“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty and the American dream. That is all plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names and purify their blood. The court disagrees,” Thompson said in her decision.

TPS was established by Congress in 1990 to shield migrants in the United States from being deported to their home countries experiencing problems, such as war, conflict or famine, where they would be put into harm’s way.

Honduras and Nicaragua were both granted TPS designation in January 1999, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch a year prior, with Nepal receiving the designation in 2015.

Some 60,000 people from the three countries are currently protected from being deported to their native nations because of TPS, many of whom have been in the United States for decades.

Trump has attempted to dismantle TPS. In early June, he announced it was ending such protections for those from Nepal, followed by doing the same for those from Honduras and Nicaragua. The designations were to be terminated within 60 days — Aug. 5 for Nepal and Sept. 8 for Honduras and Nicaragua.

The Trump administration cited that conditions in each of the three countries no longer warranted TPS designation.

The move was met with litigation filed by the National TPS Alliance on July 7, arguing the terminations violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to follow the necessary review process rules while stating racial animus was the actual motive behind ending the deportation protections.

The next day, National TPS Alliance filed for postponement of the terminations.

“Today’s court decision is a powerful affirmation of our humanity and our right to live without fear,” Sandhya Lama, a TPS holder from Nepal and plaintiff in the case, said in a statement. “As a TPS holder and mother, this victory means safety, hope and the chance to keep building our lives here.”

In her decision, Thompson, a President Joe Biden appointee, cited comments from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about TPS and immigrants as proof of racial animus behind the terminations.

She said Noem had intended to end TPS without first reviewing any country condition reports and that she had expressed bias against the program.

“These statements reflect the secretary’s animus against immigrants and the TPS program even though individuals with TPS hold lawful status — a protected status that we expressly conferred by Congress with the purpose of providing humanitarian relief,” Thompson said, adding that TPS holders have contributed billion to the economy by legally working, paying taxes and contributing to Medicare.

“By stereotyping the TPS program and immigrants as invaders that are criminal, and by highlighting the need for migration management, Secretary Noem’s statements perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population.”

Thompson also mentioned comments from Trump and other White House officials about migrants that show racial animus.

Trump has also sought to end TPS protections for other nations, including Afghanistan — moves that are also being challenged in court.

July 15 (UPI) — A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stripping deportation protections from thousands of Afghans in the country.

The unsigned order from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia came Monday, the same day about 11,700 Afghans in the United States were to lose their Temporary Protected Status.

The order maintains TPS for Afghan migrants until July 21.

The ruling came in response to a request by CASA, an immigration advocacy group.

President Donald Trump won re-election following a campaign that used derogatory rhetoric and misinformation about migrants, while vowing to conduct mass deportations.

Since returning to office, he has used his presidential powers to deport migrants and limit immigration, including ending TPS for migrants from Afghanistan and Cameroon on April 12.

The next month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the designation for Afghanistan would be terminated on July 14.

“We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” she said.

The move has attracted criticism because many of the Afghans with TPS protection were permitted to enter the United States following the U.S. military withdrawal from the war-torn country in 2021. It has since returned to Taliban rule.

Prior to the order on Monday, the National Immigration Forum warned that ending TPS designation for Afghanistan would disrupt thousands of lives, harm their U.S. communities and remove essential workers from the workforce.

“These individuals are not only our allies, but our friends, employees and neighbors,” Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said in a statement.

“Since so many of those losing their protections served alongside U.S. forces, we should honor that service by upholding our promise to provide safety and ensure that they have an opportunity to thrive here.”

The Trump administration has also sought to end TPS designations for Haiti, Venezuela, Nepal, Nicaragua and Honduras.