Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Nashville press conference on July 18, 2025, to discuss arrests of immigrants during recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
WASHINGTON — A San Francisco federal court Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary protections for hundreds of thousands of nationals from Venezuela and Haiti.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California comes as the Department of Homeland Security Friday filed a notice ending Temporary Protected Status by Nov. 7 for a group of 250,000 Venezuelans who were granted deportation protections in 2021 by President Donald Trump.
Chen found that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to undo extended protections for Venezuelans was baseless and preordained for the “purpose of expediting termination of Venezuela’s TPS.”
“DHS began drafting the decision to vacate within days after President Trump began his second administration,” Chen said. “There is no indication that the Secretary or DHS consulted any other government agencies or conducted an internal evaluation as part of this process.”
Chen said Noem’s decision to end TPS for Haiti “was not materially different from that carried out for Venezuela.”
DHS to appeal
In a statement to States Newsroom, a DHS spokesperson said the agency will appeal the decision.
“While this order delays justice, Secretary Noem will use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos and prioritize the safety of Americans,” the spokesperson said.
Former President Joe Biden granted TPS holders from Venezuela protections until October 2026 and protections until February 2026 for holders from Haiti.
In Friday’s decision, the judge said decisions on TPS have been carefully considered in the past.
“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 (“DHS”) in consultation with the State Department and other agencies, a process that involves careful study and analysis. Until now,” Chen said.
TPS is granted when a national’s home country is deemed too dangerous to return to, for reasons such as violence, political instability or extreme natural disasters.
The Trump administration has moved to end that status, which protects immigrants from deportation and grants work permits, as it aims to limit legal pathways in its immigration crackdown. Trump tried to end TPS for Haiti during his first term, but was blocked by the courts.
“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,” said Chen, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
900,000 people with legal protections
More than 600,000 Venezuelans have TPS after arriving in the United States in 2021 and 2023. More than 300,000 Haitians have TPS, which was granted after a catastrophic earthquake in 2010.
Chen said that while the Supreme Court in May allowed the Trump administration to continue with removing protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, he argued the justices did not make a decision on the merits of the case.
“The Supreme Court’s order did not bar this Court from adjudicating the case on the merits and entering a final judgement issuing relief under… the (Administrative Procedure Act),” Chen wrote.
An appeals court last week ruled in a separate but related case regarding TPS for Venezuelans that deemed the Trump administration likely acted unlawfully in ending the protected status for those immigrants.