United States: Appeals Court Stays Postponement of TPS Terminations for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua

Termination of TPS designations for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua was initiated during the first Trump Administration, and then withdrawn during the Biden Administration. After the second Trump Administration took office, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) re-initiated the terminations.

At the time of the switch in administrations in January 2025, the designations for Honduras and Nicaragua had been set to expire on July 5, 2025. On July 7, 2025, DHS announced the termination of TPS designations for the two countries, with a 60-day transition period through September 8, 2025. Nepal’s TPS designation had been scheduled to expire on June 24, 2025. On June 6, 2025, DHS announced the termination of Nepal’s TPS designation, with a 60-day transition period through August 5, 2025.

Advocacy groups and individuals filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California to challenge these three TPS terminations under the Administrative Procedure Act and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. Plaintiffs argue that the TPS terminations were likely preordained decisions and not based on country conditions and that the terminations deviated from prior agency practice without explanation, among other claims. All three designations had been provided only a 60-day wind-down transition period, in contrast with longstanding agency practice of providing at least six months. The district court case is National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem et al., 25-cv-05687 (N.D. Ca.).

On July 31, the National Alliance district court postponed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of the TPS designations for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua through at least November 18, 2025, the date on which the court would hold a merits hearing. As expected, DHS appealed the district court decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, resulting in yesterday’s appeals court order.

Nepalese TPS beneficiaries have lost TPS protection and work authorization as of August 20, and are subject to removal from the United States, barring a subsequent contrary court order.  TPS beneficiaries from Honduras and Nicaragua are due to lose TPS protection and work authorization after September 8, unless a contrary court order is issued. An appeal of the Ninth Circuit decision may be filed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Regardless, the legality of the DHS’s actions to terminate these TPS designations will continue to be litigated at the district court level.