TPS for Nicaraguans and Hondurans to Remain Until November
The ruling by a judge in California is also valid for Nepalese
The court ruling will benefit over 80,000 migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal. It will be valid until November 18, 2025.
HAVANA TIMES – Judge Trina Thompson ruled in favor of a motion extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from Nicaragua, Honduras, and Nepal until November 18, 2025. The status had been set to end on August 8.
“The Court orders that the terminations of TPS be postponed to preserve the status quo (…) and the postponement will be subject to renewal at the hearing on November 18, 2025,” stated the judge of the Northern District of California in San Francisco.
The Trump administration may appeal today’s ruling to a higher court.
In early July, the Trump administration eliminated TPS, which has protected approximately 75,000 Honduran and Nicaraguan migrants from deportation in the US since 1999, arguing that they “no longer meet the criteria for TPS designation.”
The legal status was set to expire on August 5 and, had it not been renewed, it would have affected an estimated 72,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, according to US government estimates. There are an estimated 7,000 beneficiaries from Nepal.
The Lawsuit
After the non-renewal was announced, a group of seven beneficiaries and the National TPS Alliance filed a lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration’s decision.
Between July 8 and 18, written motions were submitted, and on July 29, 2025, a hearing was held where the court heard oral arguments and decided to grant the motion to postpone the termination.
Attorney Harold Rocha, president of the Nicaraguan American Legal Defense and Education Fund (NALDEF), explained in July that the lawsuit is based on the claim that the decision to cancel TPS “did not follow procedures established in the US Administrative Procedure Act and is part of a series of decisions that contravene constitutional protections.”
“The plaintiffs argue that the defendants had already decided to cancel the designations of the three countries in advance, likely as an attempt to implement Executive Order 14159, signed on January 20, 2025, and then sought a way to justify it,” stated a NALDEF press release.
The organization also noted that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to follow the necessary rules for reviewing TPS designations, including a complete — not partial or selective — review of current conditions in each country at least 60 days before the expiration date of each designation.”
The lawsuit was filed against DHS and its head, Kristi Noem, according to Rocha, whose organization is among the NGOs leading the legal and technical advisory effort.
Meanwhile, the Migrant Association Alianza Americas claimed that “the arguments used to justify the cancellation are false, malicious, and violate the law that created TPS: to protect people who cannot safely return to their countries of origin.”
Why Was TPS Canceled?
DHS stated that Washington granted TPS to these nationalities after Hurricane Mitch struck in October 1998 — the second deadliest hurricane in Atlantic history, causing over 11,300 deaths in Central America, including about 7,000 in Honduras and nearly 4,000 in Nicaragua.
But since then, DHS claimed, “there have been significant improvements” in both countries that “permit the appropriate return of their citizens.”
For example, it said Nicaragua is “a growing leader in tourism, ecotourism, agriculture, and renewable energy,” while “new infrastructure projects are set to transform Honduras and create jobs.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that “by definition, [this status] is temporary. It is not intended to be a permanent path to residency or citizenship here in the United States.”
The Trump administration has also canceled TPS for about 160,000 Ukrainians, 350,000 Venezuelans, and at least half a million Haitians, among other migrant groups.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated abnd posted in English by Havana Times.
It would be good to give immigrants another path to status in cases where TPS is terminated. Because many migrate not only for economic reasons, but also for political and social reasons.