A federal judge blocked on Friday, September 5, 2025, the Trump administration’s decision to end temporary legal protections (TPS) for more than one million people from Haiti and Venezuela. The decision by District Judge Edward Chen, sitting in San Francisco, means that 600,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protections expired in April or were due to expire on September 10 retain the right to remain and work in the United States. It also maintains these protections for about 500,000 Haitians.

Judge Chen harshly criticized Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for revoking this provision, deeming that it would send beneficiaries “back to conditions so dangerous that even the State Department advises against traveling to their home countries.” According to the magistrate, the actions of the head of Homeland Security were “arbitrary and capricious” and exceeded her authority by terminating protections that had been extended by the Biden administration.