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LOS ANGELES – In an unreasoned three-paragraph order, the U.S. Supreme Court today granted the Trump administration’s request to stay a federal court decision protecting Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) while it appeals the lower court’s ruling.
On September 5, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Edward M. Chen ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempt to strip Venezuelans and Haitians of TPS was illegal because it failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Today’s ruling leaves 350,000 Venezuelans at risk of detention and deportation immediately, and an additional 250,000 Venezuelans at risk of detention and deportation on Nov. 7, when their TPS will expire.
Please attribute the following statements to:
Cecilia Gonzalez, plaintiff and member of the National TPS Alliance:
“It is heartbreaking that the justices rubber-stamped this administration’s unlawful cancellation of TPS. This decision will upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of law-abiding, hard-working TPS holders like myself. Today, I am grieving for the families who will be separated, for the parents who will lie awake worrying about providing for their children, for the people who will go without medical treatment, who will lose their jobs, their stability, everything they have worked for. But tomorrow, we will come together and continue to push for our rights, our dignity, and our freedom.”
Jose Palma, coordinator of the National TPS Alliance, the lead plaintiff which represents hundreds of thousands of TPS holder members:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision raises doubts about whether the nation’s highest court is deciding based on the law or merely rubber stamping President Trump’s actions. Venezuelan TPS holders followed all the rules, and still find themselves stripped overnight of their lawful status. We cannot—and will not—remain silent in the face of such injustice. And we invite everyone to join us on a Week of Action to Protect TPS Families from October 6 to 10. Because one thing is very clear: only the people will save the people.”
Jessica Bansal, TPS attorney at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON):
“When 600,000 lawfully present immigrants can be stripped of legal status without so much as an explanation, none of our rights are safe.”
Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) of the UCLA School of Law:
“Today’s three paragraph edict has now extended the Supreme Court's shadow docket power to the final judgments of lower courts, beyond mere interim rulings. This is perhaps the most extreme sign that the Supreme Court has abandoned law for politics. There is no way under law to make sense of the vast new power the Court has taken for itself. Nor can this ruling be reconciled with the Court’s rulings in many other cases, including its recent decisions allowing lower court orders to stop pro-immigrant policies during the Biden administration. Tellingly, the Court does not even try. Its decisions make perfect sense only if we recognize the truth staring us in the face: that the Supreme Court has left the business of law entirely.”
Emi MacLean, senior staff attorney of the ACLU Foundation of Northern California:
“This decision is heartbreaking, callous and lawless. Without reasoning, the Supreme Court ignored a district court’s final decision—based on evidence and argument—and issued an unexplained order that rips humanitarian legal status from 600,000 people practically overnight. If the law means anything, the government’s baseless request should have been denied. Instead, the Supreme Court has allowed Secretary Noem to exercise unbridled power that has no basis in law.”
Erik Crew, attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance:
“This case is not over. The people we represent deserve better from the United States than these unreasoned, emergency-docket takings of their lawful protections from irreparable harm. I could not agree more with Justice Jackson's dissent. We proceed to the arguments on the merits at the 9th Circuit.”
Cecilia Wang, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union:
“Once again, the Supreme Court has vitiated a well-reasoned district court opinion, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in danger of losing their jobs and being detained and deported. The court is throwing aside its standards to green light the Trump administration's lawless actions. The damage to the rule of law as well as directly affected American families is profound.”
The plaintiffs are represented by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the ACLU Foundations of Northern California and Southern California, Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, and Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA).
Read the decision here. The district court’s order which was stayed is here.
