A federal appeals court in San Francisco handed the Trump administration a legal win by granting an emergency stay that clears the way for ending temporary protected status for about 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.

The Department of Homeland Security praised the brief order by the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, calling it a validation of President Donald Trump’s broader deportation agenda and a “major victory” in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “This is yet another huge legal victory for the Trump administration, the rule of law, [and] safety of the American public,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

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“TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system. … This unanimous decision will help restore integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” McLaughlin added.

The decision halts a lower-court order issued by Judge Trina Thompson, a Biden appointee, who blocked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month from ending TPS protections. Thompson had found that Noem acted with “racial animus” and issued “preordained decisions” violating the Administrative Procedure Act.

“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek,” Thompson wrote in an Aug. 1 decision. “Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood.”

The appeals court panel, composed of judges appointed by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, paused Thompson’s injunction while litigation continues. The panel suspended the briefing schedule until a related case, National TPS Alliance v. Noem, was resolved, but it left the district court free to manage ongoing proceedings.

The National TPS Alliance brought the lawsuit, representing holders who have lived in the United States for decades. Attorneys said their clients — including healthcare workers, caretakers, and laborers — relied on TPS for stability, but DHS provided a 60-day notice before cutting off legal status and work permits.

Allowing the Trump administration to end TPS for the trio of countries bolsters the administration’s efforts to remove individuals who are not here legally or have not been given a legal status to remain here permanently. While immigration advocates have touted that roughly 55,000 people from these nations have been in the U.S. since 1998, Congress has failed on multiple occasions to pass bipartisan legislation that may have otherwise paved a path toward permanent legal status for these immigrants.

‘TEMPORARY’ IN NAME ONLY: HOW TPS ALLOWS FOREIGNERS TO STAY IN THE US FOR YEARS

According to official accounts, the Trump administration claimed roughly 140,000 deportations by April 2025.

In the first 100 days of his second term, more than 139,000 people were reported removed. While Trump has floated the goal of 1 million deportations in a year, early projections suggest the total could be closer to 212,000 by the end of the year.