United States: District Court Vacates TPS Terminations for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal
January 5, 2026
At a glance
- A California federal district court has ruled that the DHS terminations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal were unlawful and has vacated the terminations.
- As the TPS designations for these three countries have already expired and none of the countries have been redesignated for TPS, there is currently no active TPS designation for Honduras, Nicaragua, or Nepal.
- The government is expected to appeal the district court decision.
The issue
On December 31, 2025, a California federal district court vacated the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal, ruling that these terminations violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The case is National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem et al., 25-cv-05687 (N.D. Ca.).
The decision is a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit challenging DHS’s termination of TPS for these countries. The court ruled in favor of plaintiffs, agreeing with the plaintiffs’ assertions that the terminations were preordained and not based on interagency consultation or country conditions review, and failed to consider intervening country conditions, in violation of the APA.
DHS’s TPS termination actions were taken in the summer of 2025 pursuant to the priorities of the new Trump administration, and because there has been no re-designation or new TPS designations for the countries since the change in administration, there is currently no active TPS designation for Honduras, Nicaragua, or Nepal. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services TPS webpage currently makes no reference to the countries or to the December 31 district court decision. It is expected that the government will quickly appeal the district court decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Background
Termination of TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal was initiated during the first Trump Administration, and then withdrawn during the Biden Administration. After the second Trump Administration took office in late January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) re-initiated the terminations.
At the time President Trump took office, the TPS designations for Honduras and Nicaragua had been set to expire on July 5, 2025. On July 7, 2025, DHS announced the termination of TPS 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 TPS for Nepal, with a 60-day transition period through August 5, 2025.
Advocacy groups and individuals filed the instant 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 argued 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. Further, the lawsuit argued that 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.
While the legality of the government action was being litigated, the terminations were briefly paused during the summer of 2025. On July 31, the district court postponed the termination of the TPS designations until the court could hold a merits hearing. DHS then appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and on August 20, the Ninth Circuit stayed the district court order. As a result, the designation for Nepal was considered expired as of August 20, 2025, and the designations for Honduras and Nicaragua expired on September 8, 2025.
The December 31 district court decision rules in favor of plaintiffs on two of their APA claims and vacates all three TPS terminations as unlawful.
What this means for employers and foreign nationals
Though the termination of TPS for these three countries has been vacated, there is no current TPS designation upon which former TPS beneficiaries could rely for renewed TPS protection and work authorization. In addition, it is expected that DHS will quickly appeal the district court decision. Foreign nationals and employers should stay tuned for any communications from the Department of Homeland Security and for further litigation updates.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
