Federal Appeals Court Rules Trump Administration Illegally Ended Protections for Venezuelans

A federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it terminated legal protections that allowed hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to live and work in the United States.

In a decisive opinion, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling finding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her legal authority when she ended Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuelans.

The court concluded that the administration’s decision violated federal law governing TPS, a humanitarian program created by Congress to protect foreign nationals from deportation when conditions in their home countries make return unsafe due to conflict, political instability, or humanitarian crises.

The ruling is a significant legal rebuke to the Trump administration, which sought to dismantle TPS protections as part of a broader immigration crackdown. At stake are the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who were granted legal permission to remain in the United States and work legally after fleeing economic collapse and political turmoil in their home country.

According to the court, once TPS has been lawfully designated and extended, the Department of Homeland Security cannot simply terminate those protections without following the limits and procedures set by Congress. The panel agreed with the lower court that Noem’s action went beyond what the statute allows, effectively rewriting the law rather than enforcing it.

The judges also upheld part of the lower court’s decision finding that the administration similarly overstepped its authority when it attempted to end TPS protections for Haitians, reinforcing concerns that the policy changes were not grounded in law but in political preference.

While the ruling marks a major victory for immigrant advocates and TPS holders, its immediate practical impact remains complicated. A prior order from the Supreme Court of the United States has allowed the administration’s termination of TPS to remain in effect while litigation continues, meaning protections are not automatically restored by Wednesday’s decision.

Still, legal experts say the Ninth Circuit’s ruling strengthens the case that the administration’s actions were unlawful and increases pressure for either reinstatement of protections or congressional intervention.

For Venezuelan families affected by the decision, the ruling offers renewed hope that the courts may ultimately block what advocates describe as an illegal and destabilizing policy, one that threatens to uproot people who have built lives, careers, and communities in the United States under protections granted by law.