Trump administration's effort to end legal safeguards for around 600,000 Venezuelans halts due to appeals court's intervention

In a significant ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked President Donald Trump's plans to end protections for 600,000 people from Venezuela who have been living and working in the United States.

The court's decision upholds a lower court ruling that maintained temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelans while TPS holders challenge actions by Trump's administration in court. The federal appeals court found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had no authority to vacate or set aside a prior extension of TPS because the governing statute written by Congress does not permit it.

The terms of TPS are for six, 12, and 18 months. TPS allows the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant legal immigration status to people fleeing countries experiencing civil strife, environmental disaster, or other "extraordinary and temporary conditions" that prevent a safe return to that home country.

Judge Kim Wardlaw, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, wrote for the panel. The other two judges on the panel were also nominated by Democratic presidents. In their ruling, the judges stated that courts have jurisdiction in cases where actions are unlawful, but declined to address whether Secretary Noem was motivated by racial animus.

Attorneys for the U.S. government argued that the Homeland Security secretary's authority to make determinations related to the TPS program was not subject to judicial review. However, the court found otherwise.

The court's decision comes at a critical time for many TPS holders. Protections for the remaining 250,000 Venezuelans are set to expire on September 10. It is unclear what effect Friday's ruling will have on the estimated 350,000 Venezuelans in the group of 600,000 whose protections expired in April.

The court's declaration provided by plaintiffs showed the turmoil caused by the Trump administration's actions and Supreme Court decision. A FedEx employee was detained at his required immigration check-in in June and slept on a floor for about two weeks, fearing deportation to El Salvador's CECOT prison. A Washington woman and her two daughters, aged 10 years and 15 months, were deported in June after an immigration check-in.

The man in the FedEx employee's declaration stated, "I am not a criminal," and expressed that immigrants come to the United States to work hard and contribute, but their families and lives are being torn apart. He also stated that his wife cannot maintain the household on her earnings. The father of the baby, who is a U.S. citizen, remains in the U.S. while the woman tries to figure out what to do.

The Homeland Security Secretary who extended the TPS for Venezuelans after Joe Biden became president is Alejandro Mayorkas. The court's decision upholds the guarantee of time limitations so people could gain employment, find long-term housing, and build stability without fear of shifting political winds. The court stated that these limitations were critical so that people could live their lives with some semblance of normalcy.

Trump administration's effort to end legal safeguards for around 600,000 Venezuelans halts due to appeals court's intervention