SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal court of appeals blocked President Donald Trump on Friday Plans to end protection For 600,000 people from Venezuela who lived and had permission to work in the United States, the plaintiffs said they were likely to win claims that the Republican administration’s actions were illegal.
Three judge panels of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Circuit, unanimously endorsed Lower Court Judgment It maintained the designation of Venezuelans for temporary protected status, and they challenged the administration’s actions in Trump’s courtroom.
The 9th Circuit judge found that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their claim that Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem has no authority to exempt or aside the prior extension of temporary protected positions, as the control laws written by Congress do not allow it.
The then-President Joe Biden’s democratic administration extended the temporary protected status, commonly known as the TPS, for the people of Venezuelans.
“In enacting the TPS Act, Congress designed a system of temporary positions that is predictable, reliable, and insulated from electoral politics,” wrote Judge Kim Wardlow, whose Democrat, was appointed. Two other judges on the panel were also nominated for Democratic presidents.
In an email, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security condemned the decision as more obstruction from “unelected activists” judges.
“For decades, the TPS program has been abused, misused and politicized as a de facto amnesty program,” the email reads. “This injunction slows justice and undermines the integrity of the immigration system, but Secretary Norm will use all legal options at the freedom of the department to end this mess and prioritize the safety of Americans.”
Congress has been permitted Temporary Protection Statusor as part of the TPS, Immigration Act of 1990. This allows DHS secretaries to grant legal immigration status to fugitive countries experiencing civic conflict, environmental disasters, or other “extraordinary conditions” that prevent them from returning to their home country safely. The conditions are 6 months, 12 months and 18 months.
The appeals judge said that guaranteed time limits are important, allowing people to gain employment, find long-term housing and increase stability without fear of changing the political winds.
But when he ended protections shortly after Trump took office, Noem said conditions in Venezuela had improved and allowed immigrants from there to stay for temporary programs was not in the US national interest. This is part of a broader move by the Trump administration to reduce the number of immigrants in the country through no legal documents or temporary programs.
San Francisco US District Judge Edward Chen discovered that in March the plaintiffs were likely to win over their claim that they had stepped over their authority to end protection. Chen postponed the end, but the Supreme Court I turned him over Without explanation, this is common in emergency appeals.
It is unclear how the ruling on Friday will affect an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans in a group of 600,000 people whose protection expired in April. Their lawyers say some have already been fired from their jobs, taken into custody in immigration prisons, separated from children of US citizens and further deported.
The protections for the remaining 250,000 Venezuelans are set to expire on September 10th.
“What really matters now is that the Second Court unanimously recognizes that the Court has done it right,” said Emi McLean, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation in Northern California, representing the plaintiffs.
She added that the decision may not benefit people who have lost their positions or are losing their positions any time soon, but Friday’s ruling should “finally revert the path to the administration’s illegal activities related to Venezuela and the TPS.”
The court declaration provided by the plaintiffs showed the confusion caused by the decisions of the Trump administration and the Supreme Court.
A Washington woman who worked at the restaurant was deported in June along with her 10-year-old, 15-month-old daughter after an ice officer told her to take her child to check in for immigration. The baby’s father, a US citizen, stays in the US while trying to understand what a woman should do.
Also, in June, FedEx employees appeared in uniforms after being detained for the necessary immigration check-in, the court declaration said. He slept on the floor for about two weeks, fearing that he would be sent to the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador. His wife cannot maintain the household with her income.
“I am not a criminal,” he said in the declaration.
Millions of Venezuelans have fled political unrest, massive unemployment and hunger. Their country is in a long-term crisis brought about by years of hyperinflation, political corruption, economic mismanagement and ineffective government.
U.S. government lawyers argued that the clear and broad authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to make decisions related to the TPS program is not subject to judicial review. They also denied that Noem’s actions were motivated by racial animus.
However, the appeals judge said the court clearly has jurisdiction when conduct is illegal. They refused to address whether Noem was motivated by racial animus.
