By: Patricia Gannon, Esq., Marcela Bermudez, Esq., and Hector Chichoni, Esq.
On October 3, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stay a lower district court ruling that had reinstated the 2023 Venezuela Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation through October 2, 2026. As a result of the Court’s intervention, the 2023 designation is now considered expired as of early April 2025, and DHS is permitted to resume enforcement actions against affected individuals while appeals of the lower court’s decision continue. The case, Noem et al. v. National TPS Alliance et al., Case 25A326, will return to the lower courts for further review, but the Supreme Court’s stay has lifted immediate protections for Venezuelans who relied on the 2023 designation.
As to the 2021 TPS Venezuelans designation (detailed in a previous blog here), and as DHS confirmed in September through a Federal Register notice that it will not extend the 2021 Venezuela TPS designation. That designation formally expired on September 10, 2025. However, DHS has announced a 60-day transition period, running through November 7, 2025, during which current beneficiaries will remain work-authorized. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined that conditions in Venezuela no longer warrant the 2021 designation.
The Supreme Court’s October 3 decision effectively allows the Trump administration to end TPS protections for Venezuelans while litigation continues. This ruling places approximately 350,000 Venezuelan nationals who had been shielded from deportation and authorized to work under TPS in jeopardy. While the underlying lawsuit challenging the termination is ongoing, the immediate pause on deportations has been lifted, creating significant legal uncertainty.
Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan voted to deny the application, and Justice Jackson wrote a separate dissenting opinion expressing her disagreement. The developments underscore the rapidly shifting legal landscape and the precarious status now facing Venezuelan TPS holders in the U.S.
