The devastating decision comes without explanation from the appellate court
SAN FRANCISCO — A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today granted the Trump administration’s request to stay – or pause – a district court order that had continued Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 people from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua.
On July 31, a district court ordered a postponement of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) orders terminating TPS for these countries at least until a hearing on the merits on November 18, 2025. Judge Trina Thompson started her opinion in NTPSA II v. Noem: “The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek.” The government sought an “emergency stay” of this order.
“I am heartbroken by the court’s decision. I’ve lived in the U.S. for years, and my kids are U.S. citizens and have never even been to Nepal. This ruling leaves us and thousands of other TPS families in fear and uncertainty,” said Sandhya Lama, a TPS holder plaintiff from Nepal. “We are not an ‘emergency.’ We are families, workers, and neighbors who have built our lives here. Despite this setback, we will continue to fight for justice. This decision will not silence us. Our voices will be heard.”
“The court’s failure to provide any reasoning for its decision, including why this was an ‘emergency,’ falls far short of what due process requires and our clients deserve,” said UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham. “The decision simply sanctions the government’s power grab, exposing tens of thousands of people to illegal detention and deportation. They deserve better than what this court has done today.”
The ruling in NTPSA II v. Noem means that Nepali TPS holders will lose their legal status and work authorization immediately, and that, absent an intervening court order, Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS holders will lose their legal status on September 8.
“The Trump administration is systematically de-documenting immigrants who have lived lawfully in this country for decades, raising U.S.-citizen children, starting businesses, and contributing to their communities,” said Jessica Bansal, attorney at the National Day Laborer Organization. “The court’s unexplained decision to let the TPS terminations take effect–despite a district court finding them likely unconstitutional–will cause tremendous, senseless hardship for tens of thousands of families, including over 40,000 U.S.-citizen children of TPS holders.”
Nepali TPS holders affected by the ruling have lived lawfully in the U.S. for over 10 years, while Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS holders affected have lived with TPS status for over 26 years. The DHS termination orders grant them only 60 days before they lose status.
“I can’t believe that the government wants to rip away my legal status, and separate me from my child. I have not been to Honduras since I was a baby,” said Jhony Silva, a TPS holder plaintiff from Honduras. “My work, my family, my whole life is here.”
“This administration’s attack on TPS is part of a concerted campaign to deprive noncitizens of any legal status,” said Emi MacLean, attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. “Today’s ruling is a devastating setback, but it is not the end of this fight. Humanitarian protection–TPS–means something and cannot be decimated so easily.”
“We will not stop organizing and fighting for the right to stay in the only home many of us have ever known. We will keep fighting for permanent protections and to stop the cruel separation of our families,” said Teofilo Martinez, a Honduran TPS holder, plaintiff and leader in the National TPS Alliance, which is the lead plaintiff in the case.
The plaintiffs are represented by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the ACLU Foundations of Northern California and Southern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law and Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Read the order: https://www.nationaltpsalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/d03f611b-ef7d-f011-b4cb-001dd8040727.pdf
Learn more about the case: https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/legal-docket/national-tps-alliance-v-noem-ntpsa-ii