The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected a bid by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to strip deportation safeguards from roughly 350,000 Venezuelans who live and work in the US under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to the plaintiffs.

The three-judge panel in San Francisco denied DHS’s request to stay a March 31 ruling by US District Judge Edward Chen. Judge Chen’s 78‑page opinion postponed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to vacate the Biden‑era extension of Venezuela’s TPS designation and her subsequent move to terminate that designation effective April 7.

“Appellants have not demonstrated that they will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” the panel wrote, citing the US Supreme Court’s stay standard in Nken v. Holder and prior Ninth Circuit immigration precedents.

The order keeps Chen’s injunction in place while the Ninth Circuit considers the government’s appeal on an expedited schedule.

In early April, Chen found DHS’s moves likely unlawful and “motivated by unconstitutional animus,” and he postponed them “to prevent irreparable injury” to Venezuelan residents, US communities, and state economies.

The case is part of a broader legal battle over the Trump administration’s push to dismantle deportation protections for migrants from Venezuela and Haiti. An estimated 600,000 Venezuelans came to the US after fleeing political repression and deepening economic crisis under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Attorneys representing Venezuelan TPS holders and the National TPS Alliance argue that Noem overstepped her legal authority and bypassed required procedures when she abruptly revoked the Biden-era extension and moved to end protections. They further allege that her actions were tainted by racial and national-origin bias, citing statements that portrayed Venezuelan migrants as criminals and economic liabilities.

Justice Department attorneys, representing DHS, insist that national security and public safety drove the secretary’s decisions, citing references to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and to costs borne by US cities. They contend the district court’s injunction intrudes on executive‑branch discretion.

Created in 1990, the TPS program lets people from countries beset by armed conflict, natural disaster or extraordinary and temporary conditions live and work legally in the US until conditions improve. Venezuela received its first designation in 2021. The Biden administration redesignated and extended it in 2023 and again in January 2025.

“The district court rightly recognized that allowing the termination of TPS to go forward is likely illegal and would have severe consequences for hundreds of thousands of people,” said Emi MacLean, an attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California representing the plaintiffs. Referencing Friday’s decision by the Ninth Circuit, she continued that “there is no basis for the emergency relief the government seeks. Their effort to avoid judicial review cannot stand.”