A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to strip temporary legal protections from more than 1.1 million Venezuelans and Haitians was unlawful and must be set aside.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her statutory authority and acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when she moved to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the two countries in the case National TPS Alliance v. Noem.
The decision affects approximately 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who had been facing the loss of their legal status and work authorization under the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
The court found that for the first time in the 35-year history of the TPS program, the Trump administration attempted to vacate TPS extensions that had already been granted by the previous administration. Chen noted that presidential administrations from both parties had previously executed the TPS law based on “careful study and analysis” in consultation with other agencies, but characterized the current administration’s approach as rushed and lacking proper review.
“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,” Judge Chen wrote.
According to court documents, DHS began drafting the decision to vacate Venezuela’s TPS extension just four days after President Trump took office, and the decision was finalized within days.
The court found that the termination decision was being prepared even before the vacatur was complete, suggesting the outcome was predetermined rather than the result of careful deliberation required by law.
A key finding in Judge Chen’s ruling was that Secretary Noem failed to engage in the meaningful consultation with other government agencies required by the TPS statute. The law mandates that the DHS Secretary consult with “appropriate agencies” before making TPS determinations.
The court noted that instead of conducting the thorough review process typically involving country conditions reports from both USCIS and the State Department, the administration relied on outdated reports from the Biden era while reaching opposite conclusions.
While the summary judgment ruling focused on statutory violations, Judge Chen also addressed allegations of racial and ethnic bias, finding that there were genuine disputes about whether the decisions were motivated by discriminatory animus.
The court cited inflammatory statements by both Secretary Noem and President Trump about Venezuelan and Haitian immigrants, including Noem’s characterization of Venezuelan TPS holders as “dirt bags” and Trump’s false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
The government had argued that conditions in both Venezuela and Haiti had sufficiently improved to warrant ending TPS, and that continuing the program was contrary to U.S. national interests. However, the court found these justifications lacking in evidence and legally insufficient.
The ruling noted that the administration failed to provide substantive evidence supporting claims of improved conditions, particularly given ongoing State Department travel advisories warning against travel to both countries.
The decision provides immediate relief to TPS holders nationwide. Venezuelan TPS holders who had lost their status can now re-register, with protections extending through October 2, 2026. Haitian TPS holders maintain their status through February 3, 2026.
The case has already made multiple trips to higher courts, including a Supreme Court ruling in May that temporarily allowed the terminations to proceed. However, that decision was limited to preliminary relief and did not address the merits of the case.
