Venezuelan immigrants fight to keep protections under threat by Trump

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — Immigrant rights attorneys asked a federal judge on Monday morning to postpone two actions by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that will lead to deportations for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States under the Temporary Protected Status program.

Temporary Protected Status, created in the 1990 Immigration Act, is a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of certain countries experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe for their nationals to be deported to their home country. Venezuelans make up the largest number of TPS holders in the nation.

In February, Noem said that TPS protections would expire in early April for nearly 350,000 Venezuelans, with hundreds of thousands more at risk of deportation in September. This action would revoke an 18-month extension of TPS protection for Venezuelans granted before former President Joe Biden left office and eliminate TPS status for Venezuelans registered for it in 2023.

At Monday’s hearing, lawyers representing Venezuelan plaintiffs and the National TPS Alliance, an immigrant advocacy group that suedin February, asked Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, a Barack Obama appointee, to stop Noem from taking any action while the case was being litigated because Noem did not follow administrative procedures and acted with racial animus when she ordered TPS status to be rescinded. The protections were granted to the Venezuelans by Biden.

At the hearing, Department of Justice attorneys said that Noem acted within the scope of her authority and denied she took action for any discriminatory reason.

Chen noted that he did not have a full administrative record at this point but did say that, based on declarations from TPS holders, the revocation of TPS status for the Venezuelans could have an “adverse impact” on TPS holders, as well as the public interest, because the TPS Venezuelans are often educated, frequently hold stable jobs, and commit crimes at a lower rate than the general population, pointing to expert testimony submitted to the court that the decision could harm the U.S. economy.

Chen asked Sarah Vuong, a DOJ attorney, what hardships the government would face if the decision were postponed.

“The harms to the government are that the secretary has looked at the issue, has made a determination related to the national interest, and the secretary has an interest in having her orders carried out,” Vuong answered, adding that Noem determined it was safe for the TPS holders to return to Venezuela.

When pressed for more, Vuong told Chen that a Federal Register notice shows New York City could lose billions of dollars because of “illegal aliens” and argued that Venezuela was designated because the “extraordinary and temporary conditions subsection” of TPS no longer exist.

Vuong said that in her periodic review, Noem discovered the Venezuelan TPS designation did not meet the standards under the subsection.

Ahilan Arulanantham, arguing for the plaintiffs, said Vuong’s argument was misleading.

“TPS authorization doesn’t let anybody enter the country. Just means that if you’re here and if you qualify, you can get work authorization and be allowed to remain. If you take away people’s right to work, that worsens the burden on every aspect of the public sector,” he said.

Arulanantham then said that Noem’s decision to rescind TPS status was based on racial bias, pointing out that Noem gave an interview on Fox News where she referred to Venezuelan TPS holders as “dirtbags,” remarks that clearly troubled Chen.

“The statements seem to defame a group of over 600,000 Venezuelans. Isn’t that the definition of racism? Aren’t these statements problematic?” Chen asked Vuong.

Vuong answered that “dirtbags” was taken out of context and was meant to refer only to criminals or members of gangs, not Venezuelans as a whole.

Chen said there didn’t seem to be much of a burden to the government if the decision was postponed but said there remained jurisdictional questions that needed to be answered. He said he would issue a written ruling and set a case management conference but did not give a timeline.

Vuong said that, if a postponement is granted, the government will look to appeal. President Donald Trump’s administration has said in the past that Biden misused the TPS program, allowing migrants to stay in the U.S. indefinitely.

The suit in California is one of dozens aiming to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to deport potentially millions of immigrants from the United States. Trump has repeatedly said that national security is at risk if the immigrants are allowed to stay.