On Friday, US President Donald Trump’s administration filed an emergency application with the nation’s Supreme Court seeking to stay a federal district court ruling that held Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem acted unlawfully in revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals.

In April 2025, Noem terminated the 2023 TPS designations for Venezuela, asserting that extending the program was no longer warranted and was “contrary to the national interest.”

The district court, in San Francisco under Judge Edward Chen, ruled on September 5 that the revocation of TPS for Venezuelans (along with Haitians) was “arbitrary and capricious, and thus must be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act.” Haiti’s TPS termination came in a separate July 2025 action.

Chen stated that Noem lacked the authority to end TPS and that the decision to do so was motivated by racism against Venezuelan TPS recipients.

Chen wrote in his ruling: “Noem’s generalization of the alleged acts of a few (for which there is little or no evidence) to the entire population of Venezuelan TPS holders who have lower rates of criminality and higher rates of college education and workforce participation than the general population is a classic form of racism.”

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently denied the government’s interim request to stay Chen’s ruling.

The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to lift the ruling’s protection, but only with respect to Venezuelans pending appeal. Doing so would impact over 300,000 Venezuelan nationals currently shielded from deportation and allowed to work under TPS, according to Friday’s filing.

The administration argued that maintaining TPS for this population is “contrary to the national interest” and that the action is within the discretion afforded to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

On the other side, opponents—including TPS beneficiaries and the National TPS Alliance—assert that the revocation lacks legal basis, bypasses required procedural analysis, and causes serious harm: loss of employment, risk of deportation, family separations, and uncertainty for those who have resided lawfully under TPS.