Overview

• A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order keeping Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in place during the lawsuit.
• Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote that sudden reversals of TPS designations conflict with a statute meant to provide predictable, depoliticized periods of safety.
• The Supreme Court earlier lifted a district court freeze, allowing protections to lapse for about 348,000 people, and further appeals are anticipated.
• The decision leaves uncertain relief for those whose status expired in April and for roughly 250,000 others whose protections were set to end on Sept. 10.
• The case was brought by several Venezuelan residents and the National TPS Alliance, as DHS defends broad executive discretion and cites claimed improvements in Venezuela.