A federal judge on Thursday halted the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to revoke Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan and Haitian nationals, finding the agency’s action unlawful and preserving protections for roughly 1.1 million people living and working in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen set aside Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision in a 69-page opinion, saying the manner and speed of the revocation were "unprecedented" and violated federal law. Chen wrote that conditions in Venezuela and Haiti remain dangerous and that even the U.S. State Department advises against travel to those countries.
The ruling preserves temporary protected status, or TPS, for about 600,000 Venezuelans and roughly 500,000 Haitians, allowing them to continue living and working legally in the United States while the litigation proceeds. TPS, established by Congress in 1990, provides temporary legal protections for nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions that prevent safe return.
Chen’s decision, issued less than a day after the administration’s action was announced, concluded that DHS did not follow required procedures and did not adequately account for on-the-ground conditions when moving to terminate the designations. The judge wrote that revocation was taken in a way that short-circuited notice-and-comment requirements and other legal safeguards intended to govern agency decision-making.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency disagreed with the ruling and would pursue all available legal options. In separate statements, DHS officials described TPS as having been "abused, exploited and politicized" and accused previous administrations of using the program as a de facto amnesty. The department faulted the Biden administration’s border policies in public comments reported by news outlets and said Secretary Noem would seek to end what it called disorder at the border.
The department did not immediately file notice of appeal in the district court, but officials indicated they planned to challenge Chen’s ruling in appellate court. Legal experts say appellate review is likely and could determine whether the stay of the revocation remains in place while litigation proceeds.
Advocates for migrants and immigration attorneys hailed the ruling as a significant reprieve for families and workers who have lived in the United States under TPS for years. They argued that returning many of the affected people to Venezuela or Haiti would pose grave risks given political violence, economic collapse and, in Haiti’s case, recurrent natural disasters and instability.
Critics of TPS have long argued the program has been stretched beyond its original purpose and has had de facto permanency for some populations. The Trump administration and its allies have sought to scale back TPS designations in recent years, arguing that improvements in home countries justify termination. The Biden administration had expanded certain TPS designations for some countries, but the status of Venezuelan and Haitian nationals became a subject of litigation after the current DHS leadership announced revocations.
The dispute over TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians adds to broader political and legal battles over U.S. immigration policy. The case underscores tensions between the executive branch’s discretion in setting immigration enforcement priorities and courts’ role in reviewing whether agencies comply with statutory procedures and base decisions on supported findings about conditions abroad.
With the district court order in place, the affected Venezuelan and Haitian nationals remain eligible for TPS protections until the litigation concludes or an appellate court alters Chen’s ruling. How quickly the government moves to appeal, and how appellate panels and potentially the Supreme Court address the case, will shape the long-term status of more than a million migrants and fuel ongoing debates in Congress and state capitals over immigration policy, humanitarian obligations and border security.
The case is expected to proceed through the courts in the coming months. Meanwhile, members of Congress and immigrant advocacy groups called for legislative solutions to provide longer-term certainty for TPS recipients, while some state and federal officials urged expedited judicial review. DHS’s next legal filings and any appellate rulings will determine whether Chen’s decision ultimately stands or is overturned.