The building of the United States Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, houses the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the largest in the country. Photo: Ken Lund / Flickr
Guacamaya, July 17, 2025. Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have voiced serious doubts regarding the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants. Among the points raised were “potentially racist” comments by Trump and his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.
A total of three judges from the nation’s largest appellate court expressed concern over how quickly Secretary Noem canceled TPS for Venezuelans—just days after taking office in January, and only weeks after Biden had extended the protections through October 2026.
“How is it possible that the conditions in the country changed so drastically within that two-week period, and that the new administration completed its review so quickly?” Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw asked Drew Ensign from the Department of Justice. Ensign replied that Biden’s reasons for extending the program were “weak and inadequately developed.”
Judge Anthony Johnstone noted that, should there be legal deficiencies in the policy implemented by the Biden administration, they could be challenged in court. “What you can’t do is disguise that as a policy reason when there’s no other authorization to do so,” he stated.
Another judge highlighted the “potentially racist” statements by Trump and Noem justifying the move, emphasizing the stigmatization of protected Venezuelans as individuals sent from prisons and mental health facilities. The magistrate added there was no precedent for such an abrupt revocation of immigration protection granted by a previous administration.
“Has any administration, since the statute was created, ever done what you are suggesting—removed a previous TPS designation?” Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. asked the representative of the Department of Homeland Security. In response, Drew Ensign argued that the government has the authority to reverse administrative decisions whenever it deems appropriate.
Last May, the United States Supreme Court suspended the ruling of San Francisco District Judge Edward Chen, which had blocked the Trump administration’s decision to end legal protections for Venezuelans. Following this, an appeal from the Ninth Circuit was expected, but it is highly likely the government will again appeal any decision against it before the Supreme Court.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a program that shields its beneficiaries from deportation and grants them legal work permits in the country. This protection was granted to Venezuelans for the first time in 2021, during the Biden administration, based on arguments of violence and political and economic instability under the government of Nicolás Maduro.
(With information from Reuters.)
