By: Hector A. Chichoni, Esq.
And the Legal Saga Continues: U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen Blocks Secretary Noem from Revoking the 2023 TPS Designation for Venezuela
We recently reported that on May 19, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States had issued a two-page unsigned order granting the current administration’s application to stay a court’s order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen temporarily halting the rescission of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) 2023 designation for Venezuela. The Supreme Court’s order allowed the administration to resume the implementation of rescission actions while court challenges continue through the appeals process.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unsigned order created a problem for employers and employees with employment authorization under the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela by making them again subject to revocation. However, the Supreme Court’s order “left open” the possibility of further legal challenges regarding the validity of immigration documents (i.e., EADs, Forms I-797, Notices of Action, and Forms I-94) issued with an October 2, 2026, expiration date.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, U.S. District Judge Edward E. Chen in San Francisco issued a ruling that thousands of Venezuelans who received paperwork extending their protected status during a brief period at the beginning of this year could keep it as the then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had extended it. Judge Chen wrote that if their paperwork has the TPS 2023 designation for Venezuelans ending in October 2026, those Venezuelans should not be eligible for deportation while the case is ongoing.
In summary, Judge Chen’s order issued in connection with the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela should reinstate the validity of EADs or other documents to the original date of October 2, 2026. However, it is important for employers and employees authorized under the 2023 TPS designation to know that Judge Chen’s order is subject to legal challenge. We expect the administration to challenge this order. We will keep you informed.
The Supreme Court Pauses Judge Talwani’s Order Barring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from Canceling the CHNV Humanitarian Parole Program
On May 30, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order allowing Secretary Noem to end the Cuban Haiti Nicaragua Venezuela (CHNV) parole program that granted legal admission and temporary status in the U.S. to more than 530,000 individuals.
The Supreme Court’s 7- 2 unsigned order effectively overturns Judge Talwani’s ruling that had temporarily blocked the administration from terminating the CHNV parole program. U.S. DHS can now continue its process of revoking not only the parole and actual legal presence of certain immigrants but also their employment authorization. The effects of the Supreme Court order are likely to be devastating for both individuals and employers alike.
The U.S. Supreme Court order states that the “…April 15, 2025 order entered by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, case No. 1:25–cv–10495, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.”
Two Supreme Court justices, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from Friday’s order, in an eight-page opinion written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, where she states that the majority had erred in its decision because the “devastating consequences of allowing the government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending.”
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s order, the U.S. DHS published a brief note stating that “With this decision, DHS can once again start removing illegal aliens under the disastrous CHNV parole programs as the case progresses.”
Beyond its statement of “once again start removing illegal aliens”, U.S. DHS has not provided any additional information or clarification on how it will implement the cancellation of the CHNV parole program. Further, no information has been provided on the validity of Employment Authorization Documents or on the expected compliance regarding employment authorization enforcement. Employers, especially human resources personnel, will be well served by preparing to confront challenges that soon ensue from the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the administration to cancel the CHNV parole program.
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