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A federal appeals court on Wednesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with ending humanitarian protections for more than 60,000 migrants from Nepal, Nicaragua and Honduras.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the administration’s emergency request to lift a lower court order that had delayed the phaseout of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, until Nov. 18.
“The district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to postpone, entered July 31, 2025, is stayed pending further order of this court,” the judges wrote.
The decision allows the Department of Homeland Security to proceed with terminating protections for approximately 7,200 Nepali migrants beginning Aug. 5. TPS for Nicaraguan and Honduran migrants is set to end Sept. 8.
The ruling is part of a broader effort by the administration to scale back the program, which provides migrants from designated countries temporary legal status to live and work in the United States but does not create a path to permanent residency or citizenship.
The Department of Homeland Security has already moved to revoke protections for thousands of migrants from Afghanistan and Cameroon, and officials have signaled that nearly one million migrants could ultimately lose their status under current reviews.
In court filings, the administration argued that TPS had strayed far from its original intent as a temporary measure for countries affected by war or natural disasters. The program, created in 1990, allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant temporary residency to migrants from nations experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters or extraordinary conditions that make safe return impossible.
The administration has not detailed what will happen to those who lose TPS status but remain in the country. Without protections, migrants would be at risk of deportation and lose legal work authorization.
The ruling marks a significant victory for the Trump White House as it works to reshape U.S. immigration policy. Legal challenges to the TPS rollbacks remain ongoing, with advocacy groups vowing to continue pressing their case in the courts and Congress.
