The Ninth Circuit granted the government’s emergency stay of a Dec. 31, 2025 district‑court order that had vacated DHS Secretary Noem’s terminations of TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal. The panel said the government likely would prevail on appeal and that the equitable factors favor a stay, so the district court’s vacatur is paused while the appeal proceeds. The stay is an appellate‑court order that controls the parties in that appeal and in the Ninth Circuit; it does not itself establish binding precedent nationwide (other circuits could rule differently and the Supreme Court could weigh in).
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration designation Congress created (8 U.S.C. §1254a) that shields eligible nationals of a designated country from removal, allows them to apply for employment authorization, and permits limited travel with advance permission; TPS does not create a direct path to lawful permanent residence or citizenship.
Kristi Noem is the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (and a former governor of South Dakota). Under the TPS statute (8 U.S.C. §1254a), the DHS Secretary has delegated authority to designate, extend, or terminate TPS for a foreign country based on specified conditions (ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions).
Government and advocacy estimates put the number of TPS beneficiaries affected at roughly 60,000–90,000; the district‑court and advocacy filings cited ‘‘more than 60,000’’ people, while some reporting and analyses have cited larger totals as registrants and eligible family members are aggregated. Exact current counts are maintained by USCIS and fluctuate with approvals and renewals.
To end a country’s TPS designation DHS must publish a determination that country no longer meets the statutory conditions and follow notice procedures; DHS typically provides a transition period before protections and work authorizations expire. Once termination is effective, TPS holders lose TPS protections and any related EAD auto‑extensions end; people may choose to return to their home countries at any time (DHS/CBP encourages using tools such as the CBP One/CBP Home app) but return is a separate travel/consular process. Timelines vary by DHS notice—recent terminations announced in summer 2025 included 60‑day transition periods—but litigation can pause or restore protections while appeals proceed.
If TPS is terminated for a country, beneficiaries generally lose protection from removal, their work authorization (EADs or any automatic EAD extensions tied to TPS) ends when the termination/transition period expires, and their lawful status in the U.S. ends unless they have or obtain another immigration status. Travel is possible only if they have a valid travel authorization (e.g., Advance Parole) or another lawful basis for re‑entry; absent other status, travel risks inability to return. Litigation stays can temporarily preserve work authorization and protections until courts resolve appeals.
TPS beneficiaries and advocacy groups can seek emergency relief in court (motions for preliminary injunctions or stays of a district court order or government action) and can appeal adverse rulings to the federal appeals court (here, the Ninth Circuit). After an appeals‑court ruling they can: request rehearing by the panel or rehearing en banc in the circuit; ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review (petition for certiorari); or seek a stay of the appeals court’s order from the circuit or from the Supreme Court while further review proceeds. Separate administrative options (e.g., applying for other immigration benefits) remain available case‑by‑case.