Appeals Court Allows Trump Administration to End TPS for 60,000

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 20, 2025, granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to pause a lower court order, clearing the way to end Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of people from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal. The ruling means about 51,000 Hondurans, 3,000 Nicaraguans, and 7,000 Nepalese who have relied on TPS could now be subject to removal unless further legal action steps in. For Nepalese, protections already expired on August 5, 2025. For Hondurans and Nicaraguans, protections are set to expire on September 8, 2025.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson had blocked the termination on July 31, citing concerns about whether officials used an objective review and whether bias played a role. The appellate court’s stay reverses that block for now, allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), led by Secretary Kristi Noem, to proceed while the case continues. The next major hearing is scheduled for November 18, 2025, but unless another court order intervenes, the wind-downs remain in effect.

Ruling and immediate effects

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian program that lets nationals from countries facing war, disaster, or other serious conditions live and work legally in the United States for limited periods.

• According to DHS, the latest reviews found conditions in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal no longer justify ongoing protections.
• Advocacy groups strongly dispute that assessment, pointing to instability and recent disasters they say still make return unsafe.

The Ninth Circuit decision restores the administration’s plan after months of legal back-and-forth and comes with a historically short 60-day notice before TPS ends for Honduras and Nicaragua — a timeline attorneys say leaves families little room to prepare.

Once TPS ends:
– Affected individuals lose legal work authorization and protection from deportation.
– Many will face the choice of leaving the country or falling into undocumented status, with attendant risks at work, school, and during contact with authorities.

Most Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS holders have lived in the U.S. for more than 26 years, and many Nepalese have been here for a decade or longer. Thousands have U.S. citizen children, own homes, and operate small businesses. Parents now worry about separation from kids in school, and employers face losing long-time workers with little time to hire and train replacements.

“The terminations are unlawful and racially motivated,” say National TPS Alliance and allied groups, who plan to continue their court fight and push Congress for a permanent solution. DHS counters that TPS was never meant to be permanent and requires review and termination when country conditions improve.

Immigration law scholars and civil-rights attorneys warn the Ninth Circuit’s action could trigger family separations and large-scale deportations if no new relief arrives before the deadlines.

Human and policy stakes

Losing TPS impacts multiple layers of daily life:

• Work: Loss of permission to work affects paychecks, health insurance, and housing.
• Family stability: Some families may have to move quickly to seek other legal paths or leave the U.S. to avoid arrest and removal, despite deep roots and U.S. citizen children.
• Community services: Schools, churches, and local groups will need to respond with legal help, emergency funds, and childcare planning if parents are detained.

Advocates emphasize broader community effects:
– Employers in construction, home care, and food service could lose longtime staff, potentially during peak seasons.
– Community legal clinics report full schedules and long waitlists as people seek guidance on options and deadlines.

Policy context:
– Officials have also moved to end TPS for other nationalities — including Venezuelans, Haitians, Ukrainians, Afghans, and Cameroonians — though some of those cases remain in federal courts.
– Courts often examine similar legal questions across these cases: how DHS reviewed conditions, whether notice was fair, and whether decision-making complied with the law.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and senior officials argue:
– The law requires periodic review of country conditions.
– TPS must be ended when the emergency that led to designation no longer exists; leaving TPS indefinitely would effectively create permanent status without congressional action.

Advocacy groups counter with ongoing crises as reasons the program still fits its humanitarian mission — for example, hurricanes in Central America, political unrest, economic collapse, and post-earthquake recovery in Nepal.

Key deadlines and actions

• August 5, 2025 — Nepalese TPS protections: already expired.
• September 8, 2025 — Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS protections: scheduled to expire unless a new court order intervenes.
• November 18, 2025 — Next major court hearing in the case.

Important: Unless courts issue a new stay, DHS can move forward with terminations. That places the burden on families to make quick decisions under pressure.

Practical short-term steps (recommended):
1. Track official updates: USCIS maintains TPS news, deadlines, and notices at https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status.
2. Get legal advice immediately: Time-sensitive options may include family-based petitions, humanitarian relief, or defenses in removal proceedings.
3. Organize documentation: Keep proof of identity, work history, and family ties ready — these records matter if you seek other relief or face removal.
4. Avoid scams: Use only licensed attorneys or DOJ-accredited representatives.

Economic and employer impacts

• Employers must follow federal rules but should treat long-time employees with dignity.
• Many companies are connecting workers to legal clinics; others worry about labor shortages that could slow projects or raise costs.
• HR teams should prepare for I-9 and authorization changes once TPS ends.

Legal outlook and advocacy

• The appellate court’s stay is temporary; the case continues and the legal path remains uncertain.
• Immigration lawyers expect:
  • Stepped-up filings before and after deadlines.
  • Requests for prosecutorial discretion in removal cases.
  • Continued pressure on Congress for legislative fixes for long-term TPS holders.

Whether lawmakers will act is uncertain. The large, long-standing communities affected — especially Hondurans present since late-1990s disasters — have drawn attention from local leaders and national groups.

Immediate guidance and final takeaways

• The Ninth Circuit ruling demonstrates how fast immigration policy can change via court orders — one decision can alter plans overnight for tens of thousands.
• For TPS holders and families, the coming weeks may require:
  • Seeking other legal paths,
  • Preparing for enforcement risk, or
  • Making difficult decisions about family unity across borders.

For now, official guidance remains:
– Watch for updates, get competent legal advice quickly, and prepare for the end of TPS protections unless a new court order changes the course.