Venezuela: appeals court clears way to restore TPS starting November 6

Washington — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday, October 30, denied the government's request to keep a court order protecting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans on hold, a step that clears the way to restore that protection starting November 6.

The ruling concerns a district court order of September 5, 2025, in National TPS Alliance v. Mullin, which found that then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority when she vacated a TPS extension granted to Venezuela and instead terminated the country's designation.

That court order had been stayed by an unreasoned decision of the Supreme Court, on its emergency docket, on October 3, 2025. That stay expires next Friday, November 6, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.

As a result, absent further intervention by the Supreme Court, Venezuelans who lost TPS would see their protection reinstated on November 6, while litigation over the vacatur and termination of the program continues, according to the ACLU and the National TPS Alliance.

The government had argued that a June 2026 Supreme Court ruling in Mullin v. Dahlia Doe deprived federal courts of jurisdiction to review the challenge. The Ninth Circuit declined to keep the stay in place, and Bloomberg Law likewise reported that the protections will be renewed on November 6 following the three-judge panel's ruling.

“Today's victory renews our strength to fight for the rights won by previous generations of immigrants: to be able to live and work without fear in the place we call home,” said Jose Palma, coordinator of the National TPS Alliance. The plaintiff organizations warned that beneficiaries remain exposed to detention and deportation while the case is not definitively resolved.

Photo: ACLU of Northern California

Source: ACLU of Northern California