Supreme Court Strips 350,000 Venezuelans of Temporary Protected Status

The Supreme Court, with only one dissent, put a hold on a District Court ruling in San Francisco extended Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans whose status was due to expire in April 2025.

A federal Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the government’s request to put on hold federal District Court Judge Edward Chen’s ban on stripping TPS while the lawsuit continues. Chen’s next hearing in the case is set for next week.

Pausing termination of TPS was intended to allow affected Venezuelans to stay while courts thrash out whether their applications to renew their status should be allowed to proceed.

TPS grants permission to live and work in the USA to immigrants who are already in the country, for whom return to their native country is unsafe due to disaster or civil danger, and who have no other legal means to stay. As an example, an asylum seeker whose application for asylum is denied may be granted TPS if return to their native country is known to be dangerous. TPS has to be renewed every year to year and a half.

The Supreme Court’s action did not make it clear how quickly affected Venezuelans must leave in order to avoid being forcibly ejected. Their fear is that the Supreme Court has instantly made them subject to abrupt detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, followed by deportation to Venezuela or to a third country such as Rwanda or Sudan that may be unsafe.

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