Appeals court refuses to keep Venezuelans' TPS on hold. Protections return Nov. 6.
Unless the Supreme Court steps in, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans regain deportation protection and the right to work.
A federal appeals court on Friday refused the Trump administration's request to keep Venezuelans' Temporary Protected Status on hold. Unless the Supreme Court steps in first, protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are set to return on Nov. 6, Bloomberg Law reported.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, made up of Judges Kim McLane Wardlaw, Salvador Mendoza Jr. and Anthony D. Johnstone, issued the one-page order Oct. 30 in National TPS Alliance v. Mullin (No. 25-5724). "We DENY the Government's motion," the order says. The panel also turned down the government's fallback request for an administrative stay of at least 21 days, and said it will set an expedited schedule to hear the full case. The order gives no reasons.
What TPS means for a paycheck
Temporary Protected Status shields people from countries in crisis from deportation. It also comes with the right to work. The law says the government "shall authorize the alien to engage in employment in the United States" and provide a work permit, and that the work authorization lasts as long as the status does (8 U.S.C. § 1254a). When the administration ended TPS for Venezuelans, people who had been working legally lost that footing.
How we got here
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved in 2025 to end TPS for Venezuelans. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco blocked the termination on Sept. 5, 2025, finding Noem exceeded her authority, according to UCLA School of Law, whose immigration center helps represent the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court paused Chen's order on its emergency docket in October 2025, without explanation, which let the termination take effect.
On Oct. 5, 2026, the Supreme Court threw out an earlier Ninth Circuit decision in the case and sent it back "for further consideration in light of Mullin v. Doe," its June ruling on court review of TPS decisions, the Ninth Circuit's order recounts. The government then asked the Ninth Circuit to keep Chen's order frozen once the Supreme Court's own pause runs out on Nov. 6. The panel said no. The government has argued that Mullin v. Doe took the case out of federal courts' hands, UCLA said.
Sources differ on how many people are affected. Bloomberg Law and UCLA put it at hundreds of thousands. Jessica Bansal, TPS counsel with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Noem's termination "stripped over half a million refugees of lawful immigration status," in UCLA's release.
"The district court recognized that this administration cannot exercise authority it does not have," said Emi MacLean, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, which also represents the plaintiffs.
We found no public statement from the Department of Homeland Security or the Justice Department on the order.
What comes next
This is not the last word. The administration can ask the Supreme Court to extend its pause before Nov. 6, and immigration lawyer Khatia Quiros told Telemundo the ruling is not final for that reason. The Ninth Circuit's order also doesn't say which documents will count as proof of restored status or how workers show it to employers. As of Saturday, the USCIS Venezuela TPS page had not been updated to reflect the ruling.
Venezuelan workers and their employers should watch for a USCIS notice before Nov. 6, and for any emergency filing at the Supreme Court. If immigration agents show up at your job in the meantime, here's what to do if ICE comes to your work.
Sources
- Order denying stay, National TPS Alliance v. Mullin, No. 25-5724, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Ninth Circuit Restores Venezuelans' Temporary Protected Status, Bloomberg Law
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Clears Way to Reestablish TPS Protections for Hundreds of Thousands of Venezuelans, UCLA School of Law
- Una corte de apelaciones allana el camino para restablecer el TPS para cientos de miles de venezolanos, Telemundo
- 8 U.S.C. § 1254a, Temporary protected status, Cornell Legal Information Institute
- Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Venezuela, USCIS
Comments ()