U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians.
“This case arose from action taken post haste by the current DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, to revoke the legal status of Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders, sending them back to conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries,” wrote Chen. “The Secretary’s action in revoking TPS was not only unprecedented in the manner and speed in which it was taken but also violatates [sic] the law.”
TPS provides temporary relief for nationals from a designated country “due to extraordinary and temporary conditions.” Those can be natural disasters or armed conflicts.
Those covered by the lawsuit would have lost their protection status on September 10.
Chen found that Noem’s “actions in vacating the orders of the prior administration and terminating TPS exceeded the Secretary’s statutory authority and was arbitrary and capricious, and thus must be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).”
Chen also accused the administration of terminating TPS “on an unprecedentedly rapid timeline,” describing it as “highly truncated and condensed,” which occurred in a short amount of time.
These designations can last for six, 12, or 18 months. Administrations can extend the protections “so long as conditions remain dire.”
It’s ridiculous in my opinion.
The government designated Haiti in 2010 after the devastating earthquake.
“The government has not submitted any evidence substantiating ‘there are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country,’” added Chen. “And, as this Court found in its postponement order, the government failed to provide any evidence that Venezuelan TPS holders constitute a threat to national security.”
This lawsuit began in February. It’s already been to the Supreme Court, which lifted the injunction preventing the administration from terminating TPS designations.
Chen said SCOTUS’s decision prevented him from making a permanent ruling.
The judge acknowledged that Trump’s administration will likely appeal the decision, bringing the case back to the Ninth Circuit and potentially to the Supreme Court.
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