A federal judge on Monday partially blocked the Trump presidency from ending imprisonment protections for more than 600, 000 Citizens just weeks before some were set to reduce their legal status and work permits.
U. S. District Judge Edward Chen, an appointment of former President Barack Obama, granted a preliminary injunction against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s shift to withdraw temporary protected status, or TPS, for about 350, 000 Citizens by April 7 and promote the expire for another 250, 000. The Biden-era protections will remain in place for now as a legal challenge proceeds.
The lawsuit, brought by the National TPS Alliance and other groups, argues the Trump administration has no authority to undo existing TPS extensions and acted out of racial animus— a claim Chen supported in a sharply worded 78-page ruling.
Chen said Noem’s rapid reversal of Biden-era policy” smacks of racism”, accusing her of parroting President Donald Trump’s false claims that most Venezuelan TPS recipients are criminals. ” Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism”, he wrote.
The ruling comes as Trump escalates a broader crackdown on immigration, including invoking the wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport 137 Venezuelans to a mega-prison in El Salvador, and rolling back protections for migrants from Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
TPS is a humanitarian program allowing migrants from countries in crisis to remain and work legally in the U. S. The Biden administration extended it for Venezuelans through 2026, citing poverty and repression under Nicolás Maduro. Noem claimed those conditions no longer applied.
M. H., a Venezuelan TPS holder and plaintiff represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, was poised to lose her TPS benefits in days.
” I am beyond elated to know that the judge has granted protection while we continue this fight to protect my family and hundreds of thousands of others”, M. H. said, according to the ACLU of Northern California.
The Trump administration has moved aggressively to narrow immigration programs it says are abused or overly generous, but courts have at times pushed back, especially where judges have claimed discriminatory intent.
During a hearing last week, Chen pressed a government lawyer for evidence that the alleged Venezuelan gang presence in the U. S. justified ending protections. ” I’m not aware of that right now”, the attorney admitted.
The ruling comes amid the administration’s broader immigration crackdown— and court rulings that have delivered setbacks to his agenda.
DOJ ASKS SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN HOLD ON ALIEN ENEMIES ACT DEPORTATIONS
In recent weeks, deportation flights to Venezuela have resumed following an agreement between the U. S. and Venezuelan governments, ending a standoff that had halted such repatriation efforts.
Monday’s decision in California federal court follows a separate ruling earlier this month by U. S. District Judge James Boasberg, who temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador without due process, a matter that is now pending before the Supreme Court after an appeals court upheld Boasberg’s decision.
