A federal appeals court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration in its effort to end humanitarian protections for tens of thousands of immigrants from Central America and Nepal. The decision halts a lower court order that had temporarily preserved Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 60,000 migrants.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted the administration an emergency stay pending appeal, a setback for immigrant rights advocates who argued the government acted unlawfully in ending TPS for nationals of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.
“The district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to postpone, entered July 31, 2025, is stayed pending further order of this court,” the panel of judges wrote.
TPS is a humanitarian program that allows migrants from countries experiencing war, natural disasters, or political instability to remain in the U.S. and obtain work permits.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has sought to scale back the program, saying conditions in several countries no longer warrant special protections. The administration has described the restrictions as part of its broader strategy to expand deportations and reduce long-term avenues for immigrants to stay in the country.
Last month, Noem ordered an end to TPS for 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, citing recovery from Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Central America in 1998. Those protections are scheduled to expire Sept. 8. TPS for about 7,000 Nepalis will end Aug. 5.
Immigrant advocacy groups sharply criticized the administration’s actions. U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson had earlier ruled in favor of TPS holders, keeping protections in place while the case proceeds. In her July 31 order, she said the administration ended TPS “without an objective review of the country conditions,” pointing to ongoing political violence in Honduras and destructive storms in Nicaragua. A follow-up hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18.
DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the administration’s approach. “TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades,” she said.
The National TPS Alliance, a coalition representing TPS holders, argued Secretary Noem’s actions were unlawful and motivated by President Donald Trump’s campaign promises and “racial animus.”
Government attorneys countered that the administration has the authority to set immigration policy. Drew Ensign, a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general, told the court Tuesday that the government faces “irreparable harm” from its “inability to carry out the programs that it has determined are warranted.”
The Trump administration has already moved to end TPS for more than one million immigrants, including about 350,000 Venezuelans, 500,000 Haitians, over 160,000 Ukrainians, and thousands from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some of those decisions remain tied up in lawsuits.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the administration to terminate protections for Venezuelans, issuing no explanation in its brief order, as is common in emergency appeals.
According to official records, the administration reported about 140,000 deportations by April 2025. Within the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, more than 139,000 people had been removed. A Guardian analysis found over 127,000 deportations since January, including more than 8,100 cases of migrants sent to countries not their own—sometimes to dangerous regions.
While the administration has discussed deporting up to one million people in a year, current projections suggest around 212,000 deportations for 2025.
The Trump administration has also expanded immigration enforcement across multiple areas in 2025. New policies include vetting immigrants for “anti-American” views, allowing USCIS broad discretion to deny legal residency or citizenship based on political beliefs or social media activity.
Interior enforcement has intensified, with detainees in ICE custody surpassing 55,000—well above congressional funding levels—and daily arrests climbing to nearly 2,000 in some cases, a 268% increase from mid-2024. The expansion includes new detention facilities, such as Nebraska’s “Cornhusker Clink,” alongside others like “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Speedway Slammer.”
