A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from tens of thousands of immigrants from Central America and Asia, ruling that the move lacked a fair assessment of current conditions in their home countries.
The decision, issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson, halts the termination of protections for roughly 60,000 individuals from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, many of whom have lived in the United States for decades. The protections, which were set to expire in August and September, will now remain in effect as litigation continues. A follow-up hearing is scheduled for November 18.
TPS shields foreign nationals from deportation and allows them to work legally in the U.S. if returning home would pose a danger due to disasters, conflict, or other crises. Although authorized under federal law, the Trump administration has pursued aggressive rollbacks, arguing the program is being misused as a backdoor to permanent residency.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, echoing that stance, had moved to end protections for over 50,000 Hondurans and thousands of Nicaraguans, citing recovery progress from 1998’s Hurricane Mitch. Protections for about 7,000 Nepalis were also set to expire on August 5.
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But Judge Thompson rejected the administration’s rationale, stating the terminations failed to consider “objective reviews of country conditions,” including ongoing political instability in Honduras and the impacts of natural disasters in Nicaragua, AP reported.
“If protections are lifted, thousands face not just job loss and the end of healthcare coverage,” she wrote, “but also separation from families and deportation to nations where they have no remaining ties.” Thompson noted that rescinding TPS could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.4 billion.
In a searing opinion, she described the administration’s actions as rooted in prejudice, quoting directly: “The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood.”
Lawyers for the National TPS Alliance argued that Noem’s decisions were shaped by Trump’s campaign rhetoric and discriminatory views, an assertion the judge affirmed. Thompson cited past public remarks by both Trump and Noem that, in her words, promoted “the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population.”
“Color is neither a poison nor a crime,” Thompson wrote, underscoring the racial undertones driving the administration’s decisions.
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Ahilan Arulanantham, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, criticized the administration’s timeline, saying, “They gave them two months to leave the country. It’s awful.” He added that TPS recipients are usually given up to a year.
Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García welcomed the ruling, noting, “The judge recognized the need of the (TPS holders) to be able to work in peace, tranquility and legally.” Reflecting on a previous legal battle during Trump’s first term, he expressed hope that this case would result in a long-term reprieve.
“Today’s news is hopeful and positive and gives us time and oxygen… hopefully it will be a long road, and the judge will have the final word and not President Trump,” García said.
Conditions in the affected countries remain dire. In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo have eliminated opposition, shuttered civil society groups, and intensified repression. In February, U.N. experts warned that Ortega’s regime was executing a “strategy to cement total control of the country through severe human rights violations.”
The ruling represents another legal blow to a broader Republican-led crackdown on immigration under Trump, which included ending TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of individuals from Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Cameroon. Several of those decisions remain tied up in federal court.
Despite the setback, government attorneys maintain that Secretary Noem has full legal authority to determine who qualifies for TPS. “It is not meant to be permanent,” said Justice Department lawyer William Weiland, defending the administration’s immigration and foreign policy objectives.
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