Judge blocks Trump administration’s ending of protections for Venezuelans and Haitians : NPR

The interior security secretary, Kristi Noem, talks to journalists before visiting “Camp 57”, an installation to host immigration prisoners at the penitentiary in the state of Louisiana in Angola, Louisiana, Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

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Gerald Herbert / AP

San Francisco – A federal judge prevented the Trump administration on Friday from putting an end to the temporary legal protections that granted more than a million people from Haiti and Venezuela the right to live and work in the United States.

The decision of the American district judge Edward Chen de San Francisco for the complainants means that 600,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protections expired in April or whose protections were on the point of expiring on September 10 have a status to stay and work in the United States. He also holds protections for around 500,000 Haitians.

Chen reprimanded internal security secretary Kristi Noem for having revoked protections for Venezuelans and Haitians who, according to the judge, would send them “to conditions so dangerous that even the State Department advises traveling in their country of origin”.

He said that Noem’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, and she exceeded his authority in the end of the protections which were extended by the Biden administration.

Presidential administrations have executed the law for 35 years on the basis of the best information available and in consultation with other agencies “, a process that involves a careful study and analysis. So far,” wrote Chen.

The complainants and their lawyers welcomed the news on Friday, although it is not clear if it would help people who have already been expelled.

“In recent months, people have undergone indescribable damage – including expulsion and family separation – due to the discriminatory and harmful agenda of the secretary to the Green of the Supreme Court,” said Emi Maclean, main lawyer for the ACLU Foundation in northern California. “It must end now.”

A DHS spokesperson said in an email that the program had been “abused, exploited and politicized as a de facto amnesty program” and that “unleashed militant judges” cannot stop the desire of the American people for a safe country.

“Although this order delays justice, the secretary Noem will use all the legal options available to the ministry to end this chaos and prioritize the safety of the Americans,” said the e-mail.

The repression of the administration of Trump against immigration has illegally led to accelerated arrests of people in the country, but also the end of programs which offer a legal but temporary authorization to live and work in the United States if the conditions in the countries of origin of immigrants are deemed dangerous.

According to court documents, the administration dismissed temporary protected status, or TPS, and the designations of liberation liberation for around 1.5 million people, which caused prosecution across the country of the defenders of immigrants.

Temporary protection status is an appointment which can be granted by the Secretary of Internal Security to people in the United States, if conditions in their country of origin are considered dangerous for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangerous conditions.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled political troubles, mass unemployment and hunger. The country is mired in an prolonged crisis caused by years of hyperinflation, political corruption, economic mismanagement and ineffective government.

Haiti was designated for the first time for TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake of 7.0 killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people, and left more than a million homeless. Haitians are facing general hunger and the violence of gangs.

Their designations were to expire in September, but later extended until February, due to a separate judicial order from New York.

Noem said the conditions in Haiti and Venezuela had improved and that it was not in the national interest to allow migrants from the countries to stay for a temporary program. Government lawyers have said that the secretary’s clear authority and wide to take determinations related to the TPS program was not the subject of judicial examination.

The designations are granted for terms of six, twelve or 18 months, and the extensions can be granted as long as the conditions remain disastrous. The status prevents holders from being expelled and allows them to work.

The action of the secretary in the revocation of the TPS was not only unprecedented in the way and the speed in which it was taken but also violated the law, wrote Chen.

The case had many legal twists and turns, including an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

In March, Chen temporarily interrupted the administration’s plans to end TP for people in Venezuela. It is estimated that 350,000 Venezuelans had to lose protections the following month.

But the United States Supreme Court can reverse its order while the trial took place. The judges have provided no justification, which is common in emergency calls and did not rule on the bottom of the case.

The Venezuelans with expired protections were dismissed from jobs, separated from children, detained by officers and even expelled, lawyers said TPS holders.

A declaration of justice provided by the applicants has shown the disorders caused by the Trump administration and the decision of the Supreme Court.

After appearing for his annual immigration recording, a restaurant hostess living in Indiana was expelled in Venezuela in July. Her husband, a construction business supervisor, cannot work and take care of their little girl at the same time.

In June, an employee of Fedex appeared in uniform during his immigration registration required to be held, said the declaration of the court. He slept for about two weeks on a floor, terrified that he would be sent to the famous Cecot prison in El Salvador. His wife cannot keep the house on his income.

“I am not a criminal,” he said in the declaration, adding that “immigrants like me come to the United States to work hard and contribute, and instead, our families and our lives are torn.”

The reversal of the Supreme Court does not apply to Friday’s decision. The government should appeal.

Last week, a call committee for three judges also ranked on the side of the complainants, saying that the republican administration did not have the power to leave the protection extensions granted by the previous administration.