Venezuelan migrants take legal action against Trump administration for revoking temporary immigration protections
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been focusing on enhancing security at the southern border, particularly aimed at apprehending those with criminal records who have entered the country illegally. Amid this effort, a lawsuit has been filed by a group of Venezuelan migrants against the Trump administration. They argue that the termination of a deportation reprieve for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans residing in the U.S. is not only unlawful but racially motivated.
The legal complaint, spanning 48 pages, implicates Secretary Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. government for discontinuing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 600,000 Venezuelans. TPS provides a safeguard against deportation and permits work for residents from countries where it's deemed unsafe for them to return.
Previously, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended TPS for Venezuela, El Salvador, Sudan, and Ukraine for an extra 18 months during the closing days of the Biden administration. This extension, had it remained intact, would have hindered President Trump's plans to deport a significant number of people from these countries.
The lawsuit argues that the revocation of TPS strips 600,000 Venezuelan recipients of their right to remain and work in the U.S. for the subsequent 18 months. According to the suit, without this safeguard, at least 350,000 Venezuelan TPS recipients could lose their legal status by April 7 and their work authorization potentially as early as April 2. An additional 257,000 could be impacted by September.
Notably, Venezuelans were among the largest groups entering the U.S. during the peak of the 2021-2024 border crisis. Many arrived through a separate parole procedure for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, a program now discontinued by the Trump administration. TPS for Venezuelans was established in response to the severe economic and political turmoil in their home country, prompting millions to flee.
The lawsuit takes issue with Noem and her remarks during the announcement of the TPS revocation. The plaintiffs accuse Noem of racially-motivated decision-making, in violation of the Fifth Amendment, based on statements she made when announcing her decisions. The lawsuit also alleges that Noem, President Trump, and members of the Trump campaign and administration have consistently made racist remarks to denigrate and marginalize non-white immigrants, particularly the Venezuelan TPS community.
The plaintiffs further allege that Noem exaggerates the threat posed by the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) to U.S. communities and makes baseless claims that Venezuela emptied its mental health facilities and sent patients to the U.S. They also question her legal authority to revoke the TPS order and are asking the courts to nullify Noem's actions and reinstate the extension.
This lawsuit was filed in San Francisco on behalf of eight Venezuelan TPS holders by several organizations, including the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The plaintiffs range from university students to an instructional coach who has lived in the U.S. for 12 years.
The lawsuit further accuses Trump and his administration officials of promoting racist narratives, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who they accuse of supporting white nationalism, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who they claim portrayed an overblown image of TdA. The suit also alleges that the Trump administration's actions to terminate TPS are part of a premeditated strategy to disregard applicable law or standards and advance a racist agenda.