Federal appeals court blocks DHS termination of TPS for Venezuelans

Verónica Egui Brito and Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on Aug 29, 2025

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A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously upheld a judge’s ruling that postpones the termination of deportation protections under Temporary Protected Status for over half-a-million Venezuelans while litigation is ongoing.

In a 52-page decision, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the Department of Homeland Security lacked statutory authority to end a TPS extension before it runs out. It found such action violated the explicit timelines Congress wrote under the 1990 legislation that created TPS.

“We hold that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the vacatur of a prior extension of TPS is not permitted by the governing statutory framework,” the Court stated. “In enacting the TPS statute, Congress designed a system of temporary status that was predictable, dependable, and insulated from electoral politics.”

The decision is the latest development in a fierce legal battle over the fate of over 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, which shields them from deportation to their homeland in turmoil and grants them the ability to work.

The Biden administration granted the protections, arguing that Venezuela was plunged in a deep humanitarian crisis and economic collapse exacerbated by the repressive rule of leader Nicolás Maduro. But in February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to end one of the two Biden-era designations for Venezuela. The Trump administration claimed conditions had improved so much the designation was no longer necessary — despite ample evidence to the contrary.

Since then, Venezuelan TPS holders and advocacy groups have sued the Trump administration over the decision. In March, district Judge Edward Chen issued a preliminary order to restore the protections for both designations through at least October 2026 — a decision that Friday’s ruling from the Ninth Circuit upheld after the Trump administration appealed it.

The Trump administration also went to the Supreme Court asking the nation’s top judges to intervene in an emergency order. In May, the Supreme Court ruled that Homeland Security had the authority to end TPS but did not rule on the merits of the San Francisco case or shut down ongoing court challenges. That same month, Chen granted an emergency motion protecting 5,000 Venezuelans after the Supreme Court decision that allowed the Trump administration to deport some Venezuelans with TPS while legal challenges continue.

The appeals court ruled they did not find any clear error in Chen’s factual findings, nor an abuse of discretion in its weighing of the balance of equities. “We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting preliminary relief.”

The Ninth Circuit agreed with the plaintiffs that under the TPS statute, Congress granted the Homeland Security Secretary only three specific powers: to designate, extend or terminate TPS. The court found that the secretary is not authorized to cancel an ongoing TPS extension before its scheduled end. It also noted that in the 35-year history of TPS, the government had never previously attempted to vacate a prior extension midterm, highlighting the unprecedented nature of the action.

The Court rejected the government’s argument that the TPS law didn’t apply because then- Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s extension hadn’t taken effect yet. The Court said that was factually wrong — the extension did take effect when Mayorkas extended the TPS for Venezuelans and the re-registration period began on Jan. 17, 2025, as published in the Federal Register. TPS holders had already started applying to renew their status, something the Supreme Court itself acknowledged in its stay order.

“Thus if the Secretary wished to end TPS status for Venezuelans, she is statutorily required to follow the procedures for termination that Congress enacted,” the Court ruled.

One of the seven Venezuelans plaintiffs, Cecilia Gonzalez, the only plaintiff from Florida, celebrated the appellate court’s decision.

“This is a victory for the TPS community. We’re here because our country is in crisis — this is exactly why TPS was created,” said Gonzalez. “The Ninth Circuit has made it clear that the Trump administration can’t just eliminate TPS because they disagree with it. We will continue to fight for our rights under the law.”

Florida has been especially impacted by the TPS termination, with nearly half of all Venezuelans protected under TPS residing in the state. As the largest TPS migrant group in the country, Venezuelans across the country contribute significantly to the U.S. economy, generating an estimated $11.5 billion annually, according to the immigration reform nonprofit FWD.us.

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