9th Circuit Court of Appeals Sides with DHS, Clearing Path to Terminate Temporary Protected Status
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a decisive order siding with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), effectively lifting blocking orders that had prevented the federal government from terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. This ruling marks a significant victory for the executive branch’s authority over immigration enforcement and humanitarian designations.
Legal Context and Ruling
The appellate court’s decision reverses a preliminary injunction previously issued by a federal district judge. The lower court had halted the termination of TPS for beneficiaries from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan, arguing that the administration’s move to end the protections may have been motivated by discriminatory intent and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. However, in a split decision, the 9th Circuit panel determined that the judiciary lacks the statutory authority to review the Secretary of Homeland Security’s conclusions regarding country conditions. The court held that the TPS statute grants the Secretary broad, unreviewable discretion to decide whether a foreign nation continues to meet the criteria for designation.
Background on Temporary Protected Status
Congress established the TPS program in 1990 to provide humanitarian relief to foreign nationals physically present in the United States who cannot safely return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. Beneficiaries are granted protection from deportation and are eligible for work authorization. For decades, administrations from both parties have renewed these designations. The current legal battle stems from efforts initiated in 2017 and 2018 to wind down TPS for several countries, based on DHS assessments that the original conditions justifying the protections—such as the 2001 earthquake in El Salvador—had been resolved.
Objections and Humanitarian Concerns
The ruling has drawn immediate and sharp criticism from immigrant advocacy groups, the ACLU, and legal representatives for TPS holders. Opponents argue that the decision ignores evidence suggesting that the terminations were driven by a predetermined political agenda rather than a factual assessment of safety conditions. Critics further contend that the ruling places over 300,000 individuals—many of whom have lived in the U.S. for over two decades and are parents to U.S. citizen children—at imminent risk of deportation to nations currently plagued by instability and violence.
“This decision forces families to choose between separation and returning to countries where their lives may be in danger,” stated legal counsel for the plaintiffs. “We believe the evidence of racial animus in the decision-making process was clear and should not be dismissed.”
Implications and Next Steps
While the order validates the DHS’s authority to end the program, the termination of benefits is not expected to be immediate. The government has previously stipulated that it would provide a wind-down period of at least 120 days to allow beneficiaries to arrange their affairs. Furthermore, plaintiffs are expected to seek an en banc review by the full 9th Circuit or appeal the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could further delay the final implementation of the termination orders.
