Trump Unlawfully Axed Migrant Relief for Thousands, Judge Finds

The US government’s termination of temporary deportation protections for 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal was unlawful, a San Francisco federal judge ruled, the latest setback in the Trump administration’s legal defense of its immigration policies.

The Department of Homeland Security’s cancellation of Temporary Protected Status was a “preordained, political decision” that violated the Administrative Procedure Act, Judge Trina Thompson of the US District Court for the Northern District of California found Dec. 31. It also departed from prior practice and wasn’t based on a review of country conditions as required by law, she said in vacating the TPS terminations.

The TPS program allows immigrants from designated countries to remain in the US for up to 18 months when conditions like natural disaster or armed conflict prevent a safe return home. The latest ruling is part of widespread litigation against DHS, which has targeted TPS protections for about a dozen countries in its broader attack on temporary humanitarian programs.

Thompson, a Biden appointee, also denied the Trump administration’s pre-trial bid to toss Equal Protection claims alleging it was motivated by “racial animus.”

Statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump, and other officials “repeatedly characterize immigrants as invaders upsetting the foundation of the country,” Thompson wrote. These included comments from Trump that migrants “were poisoning the blood of our country” and that “we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

Thompson said the statements perpetuate “the racist ‘replacement theory’ which stands for the idea that non-white immigrants will ‘replace’ the white race and undermine the nation’s ‘white’ foundation.”

However, she temporarily stayed litigation on those claims and others related to TPS transition periods to conserve judicial resources and allow appellate courts to weigh in on the statutory issues before the constitutional ones.

Trump administration TPS terminations have drawn numerous court challenges with mixed results. A New York district court blocked the administration from terminating protections for about 350,000 Haitians although plaintiffs in a separate suit failed to secure a court order preserving protections for 12,000 Afghans before they expired in July.

A different Northern District of California judge granted summary judgment in September to the National TPS Alliance in a suit challenging termination of TPS relief for Venezuelans in the US. But US Supreme Court justices granted an emergency request from the Trump administration letting it strip protections while litigation continues.

DHS is required to review conditions in a given country before deciding to discontinue or renew a TPS designation.

Plaintiffs are represented by ACLU Foundation of Northern California, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Haitian Bridge Alliance, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and UCLA School of Law’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy. DHS is represented by the Department of Justice.

The case is National TPS Alliance et al v. Noem, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-05687, 12/31/25.