A federal appeals court on Aug. 20 sided with the Trump administration by pausing a lower court order that preserved temporary protected status (TPS) for nationals of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.

TPS is a designation that allows individuals from countries affected by armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary events to remain in the United States.

Migrant groups argued that the federal government’s decision to terminate the status ran afoul of the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The government, on the other hand, argued that extending the status for an estimated 60,000 foreign nationals from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal would be contrary to U.S. foreign policy and national interests.

A three-judge panel granted the new order in the case known as National TPS Alliance v. Noem.

The new ruling stays a July 31 order issued by U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson of the District Court for the Northern District of California that kept the status in place for the affected foreign nationals until the next hearing before the lower court on Nov. 18. At the same time, the panel declined to halt the lawsuit already in progress in the lower court.

The panel did not provide reasons for its decision.

The panel also noted that the government has said it plans to ask for a new district judge to be assigned to the case.

In her July 31 ruling, Thompson said the plaintiffs had shown that the decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the temporary status for the three affected countries was made without conducting an “objective review” of current conditions in those countries.

“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all plaintiffs seek,” Thompson said.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin hailed the new ruling as a “huge legal victory.”

“Temporary Protected Status was always meant to be just that: Temporary,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

“TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades while allowing hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the country without proper vetting,” she said.

Emi MacLean, an attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California who acted in the legal proceeding, said the new ruling “is a devastating setback, but it is not the end of this fight.”

“This administration’s attack on TPS is part of a concerted campaign to deprive noncitizens of any legal status,” she said in a statement.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.

This article by Matthew Vadum appeared Aug. 20, 2025, in The Epoch Times. It was updated Aug. 21, 2025.

Photo: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem