Court blocks Trump bid to end protection of 600,000 Venezuelans | U.S. immigration

Federal Court of Appeals was blocked Friday Donald TrumpThe plan ends with protections of 600,000 Venezuelans who allow living and working in the United States and says plaintiffs will likely win their claim that the presidential administration’s actions are illegal.

A panel of three judges in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that upheld Venezuelans’ temporary protection status, while TPS holders challenged the actions of the Republican presidential administration in court.

The Ninth Circuit judge found that the plaintiff would likely succeed in saying that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had no authority to evacuate or revoke the pre-extension of TPS because the ruling regulations written by Congress did not allow it. Trump Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration has expanded TPS to Venezuela.

“When developing TPS regulations, Congress designed a system of temporary status that is predictable, reliable and isolated from electoral politics,” wrote for the panel by Judge Kim Wardlaw, nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton. The other two judges on the panel were also nominated by the Democratic president.

In an email, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned the decision because the “unelected activist” judges hampered the decision more.

“For decades, the TPS program has been abused, exploited and politicized into a de facto amnesty program,” the email reads. “While the ban delayed justice and undermined the integrity of our immigration system, Secretary Norm will use all the legal options that the department disposes to end this chaos and determine the safety of Americans.”

Congress authorized TPS as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows the Secretary of the Homeland Security Agency to grant legal immigration status to flee the country of civil conflict, environmental disaster or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions” to prevent safe return of the country of the country. These terms are six, 12 and 18 months.

The appeal judge said the guaranteed time limit is crucial so that people can get employment, find long-term housing and build stability without worrying about changing the political trend.

But when protection was over shortly after Trump took office, Norm said that conditions in Venezuela have improved and that temporary plans to allow immigrants to move forward from there are not in the interests of the U.S. nation. Part of a broader move by the Trump administration is to reduce the number of immigrants without legal documents or passing temporary legal programs.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco found in March that plaintiffs could have the upper hand because they claim more than their power to terminate protection. Chen delayed the termination, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not explain, which is common in emergency appeals.

It is unclear what impact Friday’s ruling will have on 350,000 Venezuelans in the 600,000 group, with protections due in April. Some have been fired, detained in immigration prisons, separated from U.S. citizens’ children, and even deported, their lawyers said.

The protection measures for the remaining 250,000 Venezuelans will expire on September 10.

“What is really important now is that the Second Court unanimously recognizes the correctness of the trial court,” said Emi MacLean, a senior staff attorney at the Northern California ACLU Foundation who represents the plaintiff.

She added that while the decision may not benefit immediately those who have lost their identity or are about to lose their identity, Friday’s ruling “should provide a way for the government to act illegally related to Venezuela and the TPS to be eventually cancelled”.