In a striking legal decision with sweeping implications, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen on Monday issued a temporary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans.
The ruling, which arrives just a week before those protections were set to expire on April 7, places a judicial pause on the administration’s effort to unwind a policy that has shielded Venezuelan nationals from deportation and allowed them to live and work legally in the United States.
Judge Chen, based in San Francisco, did not mince words in the decision. He outlined the scale of disruption such a termination would cause, stating that the move would bring irreparable harm not only to the lives of the TPS holders and their families but also to the national economy and public health.
BREAKING: Federal judge Edward Chen in San Francisco has blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for 350,000 Venezuelans in the US, for now. Their work permits & protection from removal was set to be terminated next week.
Judge Chen writes:…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 31, 2025
“The Secretary’s action threatens to inflict irreparable harm... cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States,” Chen wrote in his opinion.
Crucially, Chen pointed to the apparent lack of a compelling counterargument from the administration. The government, he noted, had failed to show any substantive harm in continuing TPS protections for Venezuelans.
Furthermore, the judge indicated that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the decision to revoke TPS was not only legally unsound but potentially rooted in unconstitutional motivations. “Unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus,” he wrote—terminology that signals a powerful judicial rebuke.
With this ruling, the 350,000 Venezuelans under TPS will remain shielded from deportation and retain work authorization, at least while the legal battle continues. However, the Trump administration has made clear it sees TPS as part of a broader immigration system in need of overhaul.
My office and a group of AGs are challenging Trump's unlawful early termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.
The TPS program offers safety and stability for families at risk.
This attempt to end the program for Venezuelans is dangerous, and it must be stopped.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) March 7, 2025
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who ordered the termination in February, defended the move as a necessary response to evolving national security risks. She cited criminal infiltration—specifically the presence of members of the Tren de Aragua gang—as one rationale, along with claims that Venezuela’s internal conditions have stabilized enough to allow for the safe return of its nationals.
The ruling arrives in the midst of a larger political and legal fight. Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 17 state attorneys general filed a legal challenge to the administration’s decision. Their amicus brief argued that ending TPS for Venezuelans would harm public health, disrupt communities, and undermine regional economies. They placed the number of Venezuelans under TPS closer to 600,000, a figure that underscores the significance of the court’s intervention.