In a week marked by legal drama and mounting uncertainty, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) found themselves at the heart of a fierce battle between the federal courts and the Trump administration. The fight over TPS—an immigration designation that allows people from countries deemed unsafe to return home due to crises like political instability or natural disasters—has left families, workers, and entire communities in limbo.
On September 5, 2025, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen delivered a pivotal ruling in San Francisco, finding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had unlawfully canceled TPS extensions previously granted to 1.1 million Venezuelans and Haitians. According to the Associated Press, Chen’s order was clear: these individuals are legally allowed to live and work in the United States. Yet, for many, the reality on the ground was anything but straightforward.
Despite the court’s decision, the administration’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website continued to state that TPS for Venezuela had been terminated. This digital discrepancy had real-world consequences. Plaintiffs’ lawyers reported that TPS holders were still detained in immigration centers or unable to return to their jobs, even after the court’s favorable judgment. One man detained in San Antonio since May was told he would not be released until the website reflected the updated status. Another, who had worked at an Amazon warehouse for three years, was denied employment authorization after human resources refused to accept the court order and a letter from an immigration attorney as sufficient proof.
The government’s response was to argue, through Department of Justice attorney William Weiland, that Judge Chen’s September 5 judgment did not take effect immediately unless specifically ordered. But Chen was having none of it. In a terse Thursday order, he wrote that the legal rule cited by the government didn’t apply in this kind of case. He denied the government’s request to stay his judgment while it appeals, stating unequivocally: “The order was effective immediately.”
For TPS holders, the confusion was devastating. Noelia, a former Amazon employee, shared her frustration in a court declaration: “On Wednesday, I lost my job because the government’s website still said that TPS was terminated. I even sent them a copy of Judge Chen’s order, but they would not accept it on its own. I hope that today’s order means that I can get my job back so I can support myself.”
The government’s failure to comply didn’t just cost jobs—it sparked widespread panic. According to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the Trump administration removed the option to register online for TPS for Venezuela for nearly all of September 10, which was the critical final day to register. Plaintiffs argued this “outage” was a significant barrier, with the government blaming a “coding error.” Judge Chen wasn’t convinced. He ordered the administration to update the USCIS website by Friday, September 12 at 5 p.m., and to reopen TPS registration for Venezuelans for 24 hours, giving those affected a desperately needed window to secure their legal protections.
Advocacy groups were quick to condemn the administration’s actions. Jose Palma, coordinator of the National TPS Alliance, the lead plaintiff in the case, said: “The National TPS Alliance was outraged by the government’s refusal to comply with the court’s order. The court made clear again today that the law must be respected. We will continue to organize our community to fight for TPS and permanent protections.”
Jessica Bansal, an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, echoed this sentiment: “The government’s assertion that it was not required to comply with the federal court’s September 5 order was troubling, to say the least. We are pleased the court rejected it and directed DHS to recognize the ongoing validity of Venezuela’s TPS designation.”
Emi MacLean of the ACLU of Northern California didn’t mince words: “People’s futures are hanging in the balance, and the Trump administration is playing games with their lives and the rule of law. Court orders are not optional. Human beings are not political pawns.”
Adelys Ferro, Executive Director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, reminded the public of the stakes: “Venezuelans don’t have a safe country to return to, and we depend on our TPS status to provide us refuge in the United States.”
The plaintiffs in the case have been represented by a coalition of legal and advocacy groups, including the National TPS Alliance, the ACLU Foundations of Northern and Southern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance. Their efforts have been critical in keeping the issue in the spotlight and pushing for compliance with the law.
Yet, even as the dust was settling on Judge Chen’s order, a new legal twist emerged. On September 12, 2025, an appeals court ruled that the Trump administration could begin deporting around 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who had entered under humanitarian parole programs started during the Biden administration. As reported by Newsweek, the Department of Homeland Security issued termination notices to nationals of these four countries, instructing them to self-deport. Those who did not leave voluntarily, the agency warned, “may be subject to enforcement actions, including but not limited to detention and removal, without an opportunity to make personal arrangements and return to your country in an orderly manner.”
This marked the first mass revocation of humanitarian parole in U.S. history, according to the Associated Press. The Supreme Court, in May 2025, had already granted a stay against a judge’s initial order halting deportations, allowing the Trump administration to proceed while the legal battle played out. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston delivered its final decision on September 12, enabling deportations and revoking work permits for these immigrants.
The appeals court acknowledged the dire consequences. “We recognize the risks of irreparable harm persuasively laid out in the district court’s order: that parolees who lawfully arrived in this country were suddenly forced to choose between leaving in less than a month—a choice that potentially includes being separated from their families, communities, and lawful employment and returning to dangers in their home countries,” the judges wrote. “But absent a strong showing of likelihood of success on the merits, the risk of such irreparable harms cannot, by itself, support a stay.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs maintain that the lower court “applied the law correctly and did not abuse its discretion.” But for now, the reality is stark: TPS holders and humanitarian parolees from Venezuela and other nations face an uncertain future, caught between shifting government policies and the slow churn of the courts.
As the legal battles continue, the fate of hundreds of thousands hangs in the balance, their lives shaped by decisions made far from their homes and families. For the Venezuelan TPS community, the fight for stability and security in the United States is far from over.
