The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) category, enacted by Congress in 1990, allows people from countries affected by war, natural disaster or other conditions to live and work legally in the U.S. temporarily. Applicants must already be in the country and undergo background checks and vetting by DHS.
In July, the Trump administration said the government was ending TPS programs for Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua. The administration said the countries had recovered from environmental issues that had caused the TPS program to be enacted.
But on Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Trina Thompson blocked this in a 52-page ruling, and said the move was unlawful.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by email to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.
Trump has made immigration a key priority during his second term. He has vowed to crack down on border security, carry out mass deportations and end federal benefits for people entering the country illegally.
The ruling makes it more difficult for Trump to enact his immigration policies and tests the limits of his executive powers.
Honduras and Nicaragua received TPS policies in the late 1990s because of a hurricane called Hurricane Mitch which swept through their countries. Meanwhile, Nepal established a TPS policy in 2015 after a deadly earthquake.
After the Trump administration challenged TPS for these countries, Thompson, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, initially delayed ending TPS through a ruling. But an appeals court had paused that ruling in August, handing the Trump administration a win until Wednesday's ruling.
According to the Congressional Research Service, cited by The New York Times, 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis and 3,000 Nicaraguans are covered by TPS.
Meanwhile, it comes as U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts issued an order on Tuesday preventing the federal government from deporting South Sudanese nationals who hold or have applied for TPS. The program was set to end on January 6, 2026.
U.S. District Court Judge Trina Thompson, in her ruling: "Our laws should not favor the loud and powerful simply because of their positions. Yet, for too long, our laws have overlooked the quiet truths -- truths carried in the margins, truths lived but never spoken aloud. It is the duty of every public servant entrusted with shaping a more just society to bring those truths into the open, to translate lived experience into written protection. It means hearing the faintest whisper of injustice and refusing to let it fade. It means honoring the people who call this country home but have never been invited to speak in it. It means finally ensuring that the law speaks for them."
How the Trump administration responds to the ruling remains to be seen. The administration is challenging TPS programs from other countries and continues its crackdown on immigration.