Judge Blocks Trump’s Plan to End Temporary Protected Status

In some great news for holders of TPS, a federal district judge in California suspended the Trump administration’s termination of temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of people. The decision applies to current TPS holders from Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

Temporary Protected Status allows beneficiaries to live and reside in the United States due to circumstances outside of their control. Under the designations, approximately 300,000 TPS beneficiaries have been allowed to stay and work in the United States because of dangerous or unsafe conditions in their home countries.

The injunction reinstates TPS protections for 300,000 people until the lawsuit challenging TPS terminations is decided.Some people who would have lost their status as early as November 2, 2018, will now be able to stay in the U.S. One of the central reasons cited by the federal judge in issuing this decision was whether the decision to end TPS was made due to animus against non-white immigrants in violation of Equal Protection guaranteed by the Constitution.

While the battle to restore TPS is far from over, this is a great victory for holders of TPS status from these countries. Further, we are hopeful that upon finding plaintiffs from Nepal and Honduras, the federal district judge would extend his order to those countries as well. People should await further instructions from USCIS as to when and how to renew their TPS, and consult with immigration lawyers as to more permanent benefits they can qualify for while in TPS status as they may have a pathway to lawful status available to them.