NextFin news, A federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Trump administration on Friday to update its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website to accurately reflect that 600,000 Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are legally permitted to live and work in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen issued the order after plaintiffs' lawyers highlighted that despite a September 5 court ruling in favor of TPS holders, many Venezuelans remained detained or unable to return to work because the government website had not been updated to reflect their protected status.
The September 5 ruling found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had unlawfully canceled TPS extensions granted by the Biden administration for approximately 1.1 million Venezuelans and Haitians. TPS is a designation allowing individuals from countries deemed unsafe due to natural disasters, political instability, or other dangers to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
Judge Chen emphasized that his September 5 order took immediate effect and rejected the government's argument that the ruling did not require immediate implementation, including website updates.
Lawyers representing TPS holders submitted declarations indicating that some individuals were detained or denied employment because the USCIS website did not reflect the court's decision. For example, a man detained in San Antonio in May was informed he would not be released until the website was updated, and a TPS holder working at an Amazon warehouse was told that court documents alone were insufficient to authorize employment.
The Department of Justice attorney William Weiland argued that the judge had not explicitly ordered a website update and that the September 5 judgment did not take effect immediately without specific instruction. However, Judge Chen's subsequent order clarified the immediate effect of the ruling and the necessity of updating official information.
This development follows ongoing legal challenges to the Trump administration's attempts to terminate TPS protections for Venezuelans and Haitians, which were initially extended by the Biden administration in response to unsafe conditions in their home countries.
The order was issued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where Judge Chen presides.
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