A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump‘s move to terminate the protected status of more than 520,000 Haitians.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the move, affecting over half a million Haitians who fled the country due to government collapse and gang violence, last Friday. District Court Judge Brian Cogan in New York blocked the move on Tuesday, arguing that the agency hadn’t provided enough notice for it.

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“When the Government confers a benefit over a fixed period of time, a beneficiary can reasonably expect to receive that benefit at least until the end of that fixed period,” according to the 23-page ruling.

The DHS had preempted the argument, saying that TPS was always understood as a temporary program, so “the termination of a country’s TPS designation is a possibility beneficiaries must always expect.”

The agency had also argued that conditions in Haiti had improved enough to allow the repatriation of refugees.

“The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,” DHS said. “We encourage these individuals to take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app. Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible.”

The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which filed the lawsuit that prompted Cogan’s ruling, praised the decision as an “important step” but said more action was needed.

“We will keep fighting to make sure this decision is upheld,” the union’s president, Manny Pastreich, said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. “We will keep fighting for the rights of our members and all immigrants against the Trump Administration — in the streets, in the workplace, and in the courts as well. And when we fight, we win.”

TPS allows refugees in the United States to obtain work permits and live without fear of deportation until conditions in their home countries improve. The U.S. has TPS designations for 17 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen. The DHS has also announced it will remove Afghanistan and Venezuela from the list.

TPS is in place for six to 18 months and is subject to renewal. Haiti was first given the TPS designation after the devastating 2010 earthquake, after which it has been renewed.

Haiti, ruled by a presidential council formed after the assassination of the last president, Jovenel Moise, on July 7, 2021, has been in a state of anarchy for years. The presidential council wields little power, and actual power belongs to brutal gangs centered in the capital. The United Nations warned that so much of the capital is in the gangs’ hands that it risks falling into complete criminal control.

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There are roughly 15,000 heavily armed gang members menacing the country, belonging to about 200 gangs.

Haiti, long plagued by violence and instability, is facing one of its greatest crises yet. Over 10,000 people have been killed in violence since 2021, with 5,600 being killed last year alone, according to the U.N.