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The Department of Homeland Security blasted a federal judge’s order preventing the Trump administration from scrapping temporary protected status for more than a million Venezuelan and Haitian nationals in the United States.
The temporary protected status, or TPS, applies to over 1 million people from the two countries, allowing them to remain in the U.S. for the time being, according to The Associated Press.
The outlet reported that it applies to 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians.
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“For decades, the TPS program has been abused, exploited, and politicized as a de facto amnesty program. Its use has been all the more dangerous, given the millions of unvetted illegal aliens the Biden Administration let into this country,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“While this order delays justice, [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem will use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos and prioritize the safety of Americans,” the statement continued. “Under God, the people rule. Unelected activist judges cannot stop the will of the American people for a safe and secure homeland.”
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Judge Edward Chen, of the Northern District of California, wrote in his ruling that ending the TPS was “unprecedented” and that Noem’s actions broke the law.
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“This case arose from action taken post haste by the current DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, to revoke the legal status of Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders, sending them back to conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries,” the judge wrote.
TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians was granted under the Biden administration, as the qualifiers for immigrants from a country to get the status include an active war or a major public health crisis in their homeland.
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Immigrants who fall under TPS cannot be deported because of their legal status and are able to work in the U.S, according to the DHS website.
“The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,” a DHS spokesperson said of Haiti in July. “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.”
District-level federal judges have repeatedly been at odds with the Trump administration on a wide range of legal battles, especially on immigration-related cases. The administration has successfully appealed many of the cases.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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