Trump wrongly ended protections for Venezuelan migrants

30/8/2025 6:10

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration had likely acted unlawfully when it rolled back temporary

protections from deportation granted to 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States during his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden's tenure.



A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge's ruling finding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely lacked authority to cancel a Biden-era decision to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Venezuelans.



That ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen was put on hold in May by the U.S. Supreme Court, clearing the way for the administration to end temporary protections for about 348,000 of the Venezuelans whose status had been due to expire a month earlier as a result of Noem's decision.



The injunction remains on hold pending the outcome of any appeal to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.