A US federal court on Monday blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a measure granted by his predecessor, Joe Biden, to nearly 350,000 Venezuelans in the country and revoked in early February of this year.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled that the extensions of protection granted by the previous administration in 2023 must remain in place.
This decision responds to a lawsuit filed by a group of Venezuelan migrants protected by TPS, alleging that the revocation of protections violates the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires specific procedures for federal agencies when implementing policy changes.
The plaintiffs also argued that the decision made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was motivated by racial and political bias, according to CNN.
In this regard, the judge sided with the plaintiffs, stating in his 78-page brief that Noem “made negative generalizations about Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries.” “Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing that stereotype to the entire group is a classic example of racism,” he added.
This judge, appointed by former President Barack Obama, also objected to the US authorities’ claims, considering that the presence of the Venezuelan-born Tren de Aragua gang justifies the elimination of protections for the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan residents in the country.
“The secretary’s reasoning is completely lacking in evidentiary support. There is no evidence that Venezuelan TPS holders are members of the Tren de Aragua gang, have connections to the gang, and/or commit crimes. Venezuelan TPS holders have lower crime rates than the general population,” Chen explained.
Former President Joe Biden issued an executive order in January 2024 that extended TPS for Venezuelans for another year and a half, until October 2026, which prevented imminent deportations or made it easier for these migrants to work legally in the United States.
The ruling coincides with the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison established by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. This Monday, 17 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang were transferred to this location, despite the fact that the Donald Trump administration still has a case pending in U.S. courts regarding the expulsion of more than 200 Venezuelans this month.
