Major court update as Trump tries to strip protections from tens of thousands of migrants

An order from an appeals court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to end Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of immigrants.

Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by Trump's lawyers to stay a lower court's order that prohibited the administration from ending TPS for the immigrants pending trial. In the order, the court cited the Department of Homeland Security Secretary's authority to "review the conditions" of the states where immigrants granted TPS once resided and determine if the designation is still proper.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem celebrated the ruling in a statement on her personal X account.

"A win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution," Noem posted. "Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation."

"TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades. Given the improved situation in each of these countries, we are wisely concluding what was intended to be a temporary designation," she continued.

The order stems from a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua last year. A District Court judge ruled in December 2025 that the move was illegal because Noem had made a "pre-ordained decision" to end the protections for those groups, according to the ACLU.