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A federal appeals court in the United States granted a temporary suspension allowing the government to proceed with the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal, a decision that represents a setback for the beneficiaries of those immigration programs.
The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, celebrated on the social media platform X the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which suspends a previous court decision that had blocked the termination of TPS for those countries.
The official celebrated the ruling as "a victory for the rule of law" and stated that during Joe Biden's administration, TPS was misused.
"Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and threats to national security to enter our nation," Noem stated.
The ruling that blocked the termination of TPS has been suspended
The order from the Ninth Circuit, consisting of six pages, temporarily suspends the ruling issued in December 2025 by federal judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California, who had overturned the terminations of TPS on the grounds that the Government did not follow an appropriate process nor adequately assessed the actual conditions in the affected countries.
With the suspension, Thompson's ruling is rendered ineffective while the legal process continues, allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to move forward, at least provisionally, with its policy to terminate the program for these nationalities.
Noem insists that TPS is not permanent
In the message, Noem reiterated that TPS "was never intended to be permanent" and accused previous administrations of using it as a de facto amnesty for decades.
"Given the improvement in the situation in each of these countries, we are rightly concluding what was intended to be a temporary designation," wrote the secretary.
Uncertainty for thousands of migrants
The decision by the appeals court reignites uncertainty for tens of thousands of migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal who have legally lived and worked in the United States under the protection of TPS, some for more than two decades.
Although the suspension does not constitute a final ruling on the merits of the case, it does represent a significant legal victory for the administration and a key step in its strategy to restrict the use of temporary immigration programs.
The litigation will continue in the courts, as immigrant advocacy organizations warn that the elimination of TPS could have humanitarian, labor, and social consequences for both the beneficiaries and their families in the United States.
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