March 31 (UPI) — A federal district judge in San Francisco on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating deportation protections for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants.
Edward Chen, appointed by President Barack Obama, issued the nationwide order involving Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was set to end on April 7.
Another 250,000 immigrants who arrived before 2023 will lose their status in September.
Chen’s order applies to the updated protection.
On Feb. 1, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem decided to terminate the TPS for the migrants from the Central American nation.
TPS is temporary immigration status for nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions that make it unsafe for them to return home. They are allowed to live and work in the United States temporarily.
In his ruling, Chen warned that Noem’s actions “threaten to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.”
National TPS Alliance and TPS holders across the nation filed the suit against the Trump administration.
The challengers contended that Noem’s reversal of the protections violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which mandates specific procedures for federal agencies when implementing policy changes. Also, they contend Noem’s decision was motivated by racial and political bias.
In March 2021, Biden administration first granted TPS for Venezuelans, noting the increased instability in the country. He expanded it in 2023.
Two weeks before leaving office, Biden renewed protections for an additional 18 months.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that it plans to revoke the legal status of 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who came into the United States under a sponsorship process during the Biden administration.
The termination, known as parole, will take effect on April 24, 30 days after published in the Federal Register on March 25, according to a 35-page notice posted by the federal government.
Other lawsuits have been filed in Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts by immigrant-rights groups.
In 2018, the same judge temporarily blocked the first Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from four countries: El Salvador, Haiti, Sudan and Nicaragua.
While it was being litigated, the Biden administration formally rescinded the terminations and the litigation was dismissed.
