A federal appeals court late Wednesday sided with the Trump administration in lifting a stay that was blocking deportations of immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal as they continue to litigate the legality of the move.
The decision by a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court decision that blocked the Trump administration’s plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the three countries, saying the plaintiffs had shown there was sufficient racial animus behind the decision.
TPS bars deportation for its recipients, who come from countries the U.S. has deemed to be too impacted by natural disasters or civil unrest to facilitate returns.
The Trump administration celebrated the ruling, which will allow them to strip work permits from TPS holders and begin deportations as courts continue to weigh whether they followed the letter of the law in ending the status.
Some 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans who have been in the country for roughly 25 years will need to leave the country by September, while the decision will also impact roughly 7,000 Nepalese citizens.
“This is yet another huge legal victory for the Trump Administration, the rule of law, safety of the American public. Temporary Protected Status was always meant to be just that: Temporary,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.
“TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades while allowing hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the country without proper vetting. This unanimous decision will help restore integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe.”
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson earlier this month had sided with TPS recipients, determining that the Trump administration had failed to undertake an “objective review of the country conditions” before ending protections.
“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood,” Thompson wrote. “The Court disagrees.”
Thompson reviewed prior comments from President Trump as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, including her comments referring to migrants as criminals and gang members, and the president stating that migrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”
“Indeed, code words may demonstrate discriminatory intent,” she wrote. “Color is neither a poison nor a crime.”
Thompson noted that unlike prior TPS reviews, DHS failed to consider political violence or crime in Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as continued natural disasters and poverty in Nepal.
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