United States: District Court Rules for Plaintiffs in Haiti and 2023 Venezuela TPS Termination Litigation, But Government Seeks Stay
September 8, 2025
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At a glance
- On September 5, a federal district court in California invalidated Department of Homeland Security (DHS) action with respect to the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Haiti and the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela; however, there would appear to be no immediate impact on either designation at this time.
- Though the order would reinstate the 2023 Venezuela designation, DHS has already filed a request for the district court to stay its September 5 order, which would permit the 2023 TPS Venezuela designation to remain terminated while appeals continue.
- The Haiti TPS designation remains valid through February 3, 2026, pursuant to court order in a separate lawsuit that blocked government termination action.
The issue
On September 5, a federal district court in California granted summary judgment in favor of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) plaintiffs on several claims challenging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) action against the Haiti and 2023 Venezuela TPS designations; however, there appears to be no immediate practical impact of the ruling yet. In National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem et al. (N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-01766), the court found that DHS’s partial vacatur of TPS for Haiti, and its vacatur and termination of the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela, were unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The court’s summary judgment order sets aside these government actions under the APA. However, the Haiti TPS termination had already been blocked by court order in a separate lawsuit, and DHS has already requested a stay of the September 5 National TPS Alliance order with respect to the 2023 Venezuela designation, and the agency will presumably continue to treat the designation as terminated while its request for a stay is being considered.
Impact on the 2023 Venezuela designation
The 2023 Venezuela TPS designation has been deemed terminated as of early April. The September 5 district court order should have the effect of invalidating the DHS vacatur and termination, because the order appears to be outside of the purview of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling which permitted the vacatur and termination actions to remain in place, pending certain appeals in the case. However, because effectuating the September 5 district court order would mean that DHS would be required to at least temporarily reinstate the 2023 Venezuela TPS designation, DHS has already filed a request for the district court to stay the order. If the stay is granted, the 2023 designation will remain terminated while appeals in the case move forward.
Impact on the Haiti designation
The September 5 ruling does not have a practical impact for Haitian nationals in TPS status because the termination of Haiti TPS is already blocked by court order in a separate lawsuit. Haiti TPS is currently scheduled to remain in effect through February 3, 2026.
What’s next
In the coming days, the National TPS Alliance district court is expected to rule on DHS’s request for a stay of the September 5 order. If the court approves the stay request, the 2023 TPS Venezuela designation would remain terminated pending further appeals in the litigation. If the court declines to grant a stay, DHS may attempt to seek a stay of the decision from a higher court pending its appeal on the merits of the case, but if no stay is granted, DHS would be expected to provide guidance on how it plans to reinstate the designation, even temporarily. However, either party is likely to appeal a non-favorable decision by the district court to higher courts.
As a reminder, last week, DHS announced that it would not extend the 2021 Venezuela TPS designation scheduled to expire on September 10, but will grant a transition period through November 7, 2025 for these beneficiaries.
Fragomen is monitoring developments in TPS litigation and will issue updates accordingly.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
