Judge blocks Trump from stripping temporary protected status from over 900,000 Haitians and Venezuelans

Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on Sep 5, 2025

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A federal judge has stopped the Trump administration from stripping away the deportation protections under temporary protected status for over half-a-million Venezuelans and Haitians living in the United States

In a 68-page decision, Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California ruled that Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem had made the decisions in haste and beyond the scope of her authority. He restored Biden-era TPS extensions that run until February 2026 for Haitians and October 2026 for Venezuelans.

“For the first time in the 35-year history of the TPS program, the Trump administration and DHS Secretary Noem took the extraordinary and unusual act of vacating TPS extensions that had already been granted — specifically, extensions given by the prior administration to Venezuela and Haiti,” wrote Chen.

The ruling is a long-awaited development in a court case that has gripped TPS beneficiaries, whose federal protections hinged on Chen’s decision. Many expressed fear of returning to homelands in turmoil where their lives and livelihoods would be at risk. On Friday, advocates and immigrants described the ruling as a welcome relief after months of anxiety and fierce litigation in the federal courts.

“We celebrate today that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians can sleep more peacefully today. We celebrate that due process and justice still exist in this country. We know that the legal arguments and truth have always been by our side. We are very grateful to this country and its justice system. Today is a great day and we will honor it by being the best citizens we can be,” said Adelys Ferro, Miami-based director of the national organization Venezuelan American Caucus.

Since returning to the White House, the Trump administration has ended temporary protected status protections for immigrants from several countries, arguing that conditions have improved and that the designations were not in American interests. In February, it ended protections granted in 2023 for a group of 352,000 Venezuelans. This week, it announced protections granted in 2021 would expire for another 250,000 people from the South American country on Sept. 10.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision. The case had already reached the Supreme Court, which gave the federal government the green light to end the program. That left the vast majority of Venezuelans under the 2023 TPS designation without the protections. However, the nation’s highest court has not weighed on the merits of the case or stopped the San Francisco case from continuing. An appeals court also recently affirmed a preliminary order from Chen that had blocked the TPS termination.

In its reasoning to end temporary protected status for Venezuela, the Trump administration had noted improvements in sectors like health care and public safety. In his ruling, Chen noted that the government had not submitted any evidence documenting the improvements.

“The Secretary’s actions in revoking TPS was not only unprecedented in the manner and speed in which it was taken but also violates the law, “ Chen wrote on Friday.

There were nearly 603,000 Venezuelans and 331,000 Haitians with temporary protected status as of March 31, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service. Florida is the state by far with the biggest population of TPS holders, with 403,965 living there. Nearly all are Haitian or Venezuelan.

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