By Steve Neavling
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants, just days before their legal status was set to expire.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said the decision by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans would cause widespread harm and lacked legal justification.
Chen’s ruling halts the move nationwide and protects roughly 350,000 Venezuelans from losing their status on April 7. He wrote that the government’s action would disrupt lives, families, and jobs, hurt public health, and cost billions in economic activity.
The judge said plaintiffs were likely to prove Noem’s decision was “unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.” Noem had also moved last year to strip TPS from another 250,000 Venezuelans.
The ruling gives the federal government one week to appeal. It also allows plaintiffs to seek similar relief for 500,000 Haitians whose TPS is set to expire in August.
“Today is a good day for the migrant community,” said Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which backed the lawsuit. “We’re going to fight for everyone because everyone is deserving.”
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment.
