Supreme Court allows Trump to revoke protected status for thousands of Venezuelans

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Trump administration the green light to revoke special legal protections for thousands of Venezuelan immigrants.

The high court granted an emergency application filed by the administration, meaning officials can move forward with reversing a decision made at the tail end of the Biden administration to extend protections for more than 300,000 Venezuelans under the federal Temporary Protected Status program.

The brief order noted that liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the application. Litigation will now continue in lower courts.

As a result of political instability in Venezuela, the Biden administration in March 2021 said Venezuelans were eligible for temporary protected status under the federal program that has existed since 1990 to provide humanitarian relief to people from countries reeling from war, natural disasters, or other catastrophes.

People accepted into the program have legal status in the United States and can get work authorization for up to 18 months, subject to extensions.

At issue before the Supreme Court was a subsequent designation made in October 2023 and extended in January just before Trump took office. It is set to expire in October 2026.

In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to unwind those determinations, meaning the protections would expire this year instead.

A judge in the Northern District of California blocked the move, citing concerns that the decision was based in part on racial animus.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration's emergency application that the courts could not review Noem's decision.

National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem (N.D. Cal.)

Ninth Cir. Case No. 25-2120

Case No. 25-cv-1766

Overview: The National TPS Alliance (an organization representing individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the U.S.) and individuals from Venezuela who have TPS challenged the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS for Venezuelans in the U.S., arguing that the action was unlawful and motivated by racial bias. On March 31, Judge Edward Chen ordered the Trump administration to postpone the termination of temporary protected status for Venezuelan nationals. The Trump administration appealed the order the following day, and the Appellate Court later rejected the appeal. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court on May 1.

Case Summary: On Jan. 17, 2025, near the end of President Joe Biden’s term, DHS Secretary Mayorkas extended the designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans living in the United States. On Jan. 28, President Trump’s newly-confirmed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem vacated that extension, and days later she terminated TPS for Venezuelans who had first registered for protected status in 2023.

Plaintiffs allege that DHS lacks authority to “vacate” a prior TPS extension, but even if it did have such authority, the Secretary’s justifications are “arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, pretextual, and inexplicably deviate from past practice in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.” Citing Secretary Noem’s references to Venezuelan TPS holders as “dirtbags,” Plaintiffs also allege that the Secretary’s actions were motivated at least partly by racial animus, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Plaintiffs request that the court declare unlawful and set aside DHS’s vacatur and termination orders and reinstate the prior TPS extension.

Update 1: On Feb. 20, the Plaintiffs filed a motion to postpone the effective date of DHS’s vacatur and termination orders. The Plaintiffs argued they are likely to succeed on the merits because Secretary Kristi Noem lacked the authority to vacate the extension, the vacatur was arbitrary and capricious, and the government was motivated by racial animus. They also argued that they face a risk of irreparable harm and that, on balance, the Plaintiffs and the public interest would be more harmed by the absence of a stay than the Defendants would be by the imposition of one.

Update 2: On Mar. 3, the Defendants filed a reply to the Plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the effective date. The Defendants argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to review Secretary Noem’s actions or to provide the Plaintiffs’ requested relief. They also argue that even if the court has jurisdiction, the Plaintiffs’ claims fail on the merits.

Update 3: On Mar. 7, the Plaintiffs filed a reply in support of their motion to postpone the effective date of DHS’s orders.

Update 4: On Mar. 20, the Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding claims against Secretary Noem’s decision to reduce the 2024 TPS extension for Haiti to 12 months, and asking the court to declare that the 18-month TPS extension remains in effect. Additionally, the court held a hearing on plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the effective date of the Venezuela TPS claim on March 24 and a decision is forthcoming.

Update 5: On Mar. 31, Judge Edward Chen granted plaintiffs motion (in a 78-page court order) to postpone the termination of temporary protected status for Venezuelan nationals.

Update 6: On Apr. 1, Defendants appealed Judge Chen’s Mar. 31 order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Update 7: On Apr. 18, the Ninth Circuit denied the Defendants’ motion for a stay.

Update 8: On Apr. 29, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss, alleging that the District Court lacks jurisdiction over the entire action on a variety of grounds. Further, the Motion to Dismiss argues that the Secretary’s actions did not violate the APA, being neither arbitrary nor capricious, and that the Plaintiff’s constitutional claims should fail as a matter of law.

Update 9: On May 1, the Defendants appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the district court’s order.

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