The Trump administration's effort to strip hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan and Haitian migrants of legal protections is unlawful, a US judge says.
The ruling by District Judge Edward Chen sets aside the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) attempt to end temporary protected status (TPS) for people from countries experiencing conditions that make it dangerous to return.
It will allow around 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians to continue living and working legally in the US. The DHS has indicated it will appeal the decision.
The TPS program was established by Congress in 1990 to give temporary protections for migrants from countries experiencing war and natural disasters.
In a 69-page decision, Judge Chen wrote that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's action in revoking their protected status was not only unprecedented in the manner and speed in which it was taken but also violates the law.
He said conditions in their home countries were so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel.
In response to the ruling, a DHS spokesperson told the BBC the scheme had been abused, exploited, and politicised as a de facto amnesty program, while indicating it would assess its legal options.
Unelected activist judges cannot stop the will of the American people for a safe and secure homeland, the spokesperson added.
There are about 600,000 migrants who have TPS from Venezuela, the largest country included in the program. Former President Joe Biden extended the program to include Haiti, Afghanistan, Cameroon and Ukraine.
President Donald Trump sought to reverse the extension when he returned to office earlier this year and also attempted to terminate the designation for Venezuela altogether.
In March, the administration, making good on Trump's campaign promise of cracking down on immigration, said it would revoke the temporary legal status of more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The National TPS Alliance and Venezuelan TPS holders sued the Trump administration and DHS earlier this year, arguing that Noem did not have the authority to unilaterally roll back the extension granted by the previous administration.
Judge Chen's ruling on Friday insists that the high court's previous decision only dealt with preliminary relief he ordered and that it did not preclude him from issuing fresh orders.
Additionally, a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled that the Trump administration cannot continue cuts to foreign aid, requiring them to spend funds on projects authorized by Congress.
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