Judge blocks Trump administration from stripping deportation protections for Venezuelans

[Jose Garcia]

Source: Reuters

March 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from stripping deportation protections for some Venezuelan immigrants.

In a case brought by the National TPS Alliance, a group that advocates for immigrants, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco paused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision to remove temporary protected status from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.

TPS is available to people whose home country has experienced a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.

In 2021, then-President Joe Biden's administration first granted TPS to Venezuelans, citing high levels of crime in Venezuela related to political and economic instability under President Nicolas Maduro.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-blocks-trump-administration-stripping-deportation-protections-venezuelans-2025-03-31/

[MichMan]

1. Does this mean they have been granted permanent residency instead of temporary ?

[Jose Garcia]

2. No. They just can't be deported for the time being

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Judge Blocks Terminated Protections for Venezuelans (Correct)

trump loses another lawsuit

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/judge-blocks-termination-of-migrant-protections-for-venezuelans

A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from canceling deportation protections for several hundred thousand Venezuelans in the US.

About 350,000 Venezuelans would have lost a legal status known as Temporary Protected Status on April 7 barring court action.

District Court Judge Edward M. Chen found plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing the termination of TPS protections by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus in an order Monday.

The termination of TPS benefits would harm the economy and public and safety, Chen wrote. And he found the government had failed to identify any harm in continuing the protections.

The TPS program allows immigrants from designated countries to stay in the US for up to 18 months and apply for legal work authorization when they can’t safely return home because of armed conflict or natural disasters. Although the Biden administration issued TPS extensions for Venezuelans and Haitians in January, Noem rescinded the protections and later announced she would let previous designations expire.

About half a million Haitians would see TPS protections end in August if those terminations go forward. Another quarter million Venezuelans covered by a separate TPS designation would lose protections in September.