Judge blocks Trump admin from ending protected status for Venezuelans: 'Smacks of racism'

United States District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco on Monday blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals living in the U.S.

Under the Biden administration, TPS eligibility was drastically expanded to foreign nationals from several countries, including Afghanistan, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Ukraine.

'We need to follow the rule of law and not some advice from an activist judge who makes a foolish ruling.'

Through two separate designations in 2021 and 2023, the Biden administration granted TPS to roughly 600,000 Venezuelan nationals in the U.S., allowing them to apply for work authorizations and avoid deportation. Those designations were set to expire on April 7 and September 10, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

On his way out of office, Biden extended TPS expiration dates for nearly 1 million foreign nationals, including Venezuelans.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to undo those last-minute extensions, reversing protections for the 350,000 Venezuelans whose status is scheduled to expire in April. She also announced a reversal for another 250,000 Venezuelans whose TPS will end in September.

The move sparked a legal challenge brought by the National TPS Alliance. On Monday, Chen blocked Trump's DHS from stripping the protections, claiming it "smacks of racism."

The Barack Obama-appointed judge wrote, "The Secretary made sweeping negative generalizations about Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries."

"Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism," Chen stated.

"The Secretary's rationale is entirely lacking in evidentiary support," Chen claimed. "There is no evidence that Venezuelan TPS holders are members of the [Tren de Aragua] gang, have connections to the gang, and/or commit crimes. Venezuelan TPS holders have lower rates of criminality than the general population. Generalization of criminality to the Venezuelan TPS population as a whole is baseless and smacks of racism predicated on generalized false stereotypes."

Chen argued that the removal of TPS would "inflict irreparable harm" to the Venezuelan nationals, the U.S. economy, and community stability. He has postponed the Trump administration's attempt to revoke TPS until he rules on the merits of the case.

Border czar Tom Homan responded to Chen's ruling.

"It's another activist judge making a stupid ruling," he told Fox News.

Homan emphasized that TPS was intended to be used for a limited period of time to protect foreign nationals from conditions in their home countries, including armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary temporary conditions.

"TPS isn't meant to be decades long," Homan continued. "TPS needs to be temporary in nature. We need to follow the rule of law and not some advice from an activist judge who makes a foolish ruling."

Homan contended that Chen's decision was based on his "opinion" and not the rule of law. He noted that the administration will appeal the ruling.

Chen is the latest district judge to attempt to block Trump's agenda. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an emergency pause on the administration's deportation flights.

The DHS did not respond to a request for comment from CBS News.

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