US court ruling threatens protected status of 60,000 migrants
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A federal appeals court granted the Trump administration authority to phase out Temporary Protected Status for migrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, sparking criticism from immigrant advocates.
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A supporter amongst a coalition of community leaders and immigrant advocates demonstrates outside US immigration offices, calling on federal authorities to designate Ecuador for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for its nationals in the aftermath of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in New York. (AP)
A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration, temporarily overturning a lower court decision that had preserved Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 migrants from Central America and Nepal.
The decision enables the government to begin removal proceedings for approximately 7,000 Nepalese migrants whose TPS expired on 5 August. The status of 51,000 Hondurans and 3,000 Nicaraguans is scheduled to lapse on September 8, after which they too will be subject to deportation.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted an emergency stay while the case undergoes further review. Immigrant rights advocates maintain that the administration acted unlawfully in ending TPS for individuals from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.
“The district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to postpone, entered July 31, 2025, is stayed pending further order of this court,” the panel wrote. The three judges were appointed by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.
TPS: a lifeline for longtime residents
TPS is a designation granted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allowing migrants to remain in the United States and work legally if returning to their home country would be unsafe due to conflict, disaster, or political instability. The Trump administration has sought to roll back these protections as part of its broader immigration enforcement strategy.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has the authority to extend or terminate TPS designations based on conditions in migrants’ countries of origin.
Advocates stress that many of the affected migrants have built their lives in the US over decades. TPS holders from Nepal have been in the country for more than ten years, while Hondurans and Nicaraguans first received protections in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch.
“The Trump administration is systematically de-documenting immigrants who have lived lawfully in this country for decades, raising US-citizen children, starting businesses, and contributing to their communities,” said Jessica Bansal, attorney at the National Day Laborer Organization.
Noem concluded that conditions in the affected countries no longer warranted protection, prompting the legal challenge.
Lower court criticism of government review
On 31 July, US district judge Trina L. Thompson issued an order keeping the protections in place during the proceedings, citing a lack of “objective review of the country conditions,” including political unrest in Honduras and the impact of recent hurricanes in Nicaragua. A follow-up hearing is scheduled for 18 November.
However, DHS official Tricia McLaughlin countered, “TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
The administration has already terminated TPS for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Cameroon. Several of these decisions are also being contested in federal court.
Plaintiffs argue that the move to end TPS was driven by Trump’s campaign promises and racially motivated policies, while government lawyers contend that continuation of the program would cause “irreparable harm” by obstructing DHS from enforcing immigration policy.
In May, the US Supreme Court allowed the administration to end TPS for Venezuelans without issuing an explanation, leaving the underlying legal challenges unresolved.
Read more: Deported Venezuelan migrants recount abuse in El Salvador prison
