A federal court in California has ruled that the U.S. government cannot invalidate immigration documents belonging to approximately 5,000 Venezuelan nationals who were granted permission to remain in the country until October 2026. The decision comes after a series of legal battles concerning the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.
The controversy began when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate Venezuela’s 2023 TPS designation in February. TPS is a special immigration status granted to foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home countries due to various
circumstances, including armed conflicts, natural disasters, or health crises. The status shields recipients from deportation and permits them to seek employment authorization in the United States.
Following Noem’s decision, the National TPS Alliance, which advocates for TPS holders nationwide, initiated legal action. Although a California federal judge initially blocked the termination through an injunction in March, the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently lifted this order on May 19, supporting Noem’s authority to end the designation.
The latest development occurred when plaintiffs sought relief from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, specifically requesting protection for Venezuelans who had already received TPS documentation. The court’s May 30 ruling favored these plaintiffs.
The timeline of events shows that the Biden administration had extended Venezuela’s TPS designation until October 2, 2026, in a January 17 announcement. However, Noem vacated this extension on February 3 and formally terminated the 2023 TPS designation two days later, with the termination taking effect on April 7.
The court determined that Noem exceeded her statutory authority by attempting to cancel TPS documents that were set to remain valid until October 2026. According to the court’s ruling, “Nothing in the TPS statute allows the Secretary to take such action.” The decision particularly considered the potential “irreparable injury” to Venezuelan nationals who had made life plans based on their
documentation’s validity through 2026.
The court’s relief applies specifically to Venezuelans who received TPS-related documentation through February 5, when Noem published the termination notice. This affects approximately 5,000 individuals, rather than the entire population of 350,000 Venezuelans covered under the 2023 TPS designation.
Noem’s February 5 order argued that maintaining the TPS designation for Venezuelan nationals was “contrary to the national interest of the United States.” The administration’s position, expressed through White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, maintains that TPS is inherently temporary and subject to the DHS Secretary’s discretion.
The impact on the Venezuelan community has been significant, according to Ludmila Padrino, a lawyer working with Venezuelan immigrants. She described the challenges faced by affected individuals, including employment termination notices and difficulties renewing licenses, noting that many law-abiding Venezuelans were being impacted by decisions aimed at addressing concerns about a smaller group of individuals who had committed crimes.
The White House has defended the administration’s stance, with Jackson stating that district courts cannot prevent the Executive Branch from enforcing immigration laws. She characterized the Supreme Court’s May 19 decision as “an important inflection point” in addressing what she termed “lawless lower court decisions that flout plain law and legislate from the bench.”