Trump administration may not end Venezuelan migrants' protections, court rules

FILE PHOTO: A Venezuelan woman hugs her 5-year-old daughter in their apartment amid a time when, despite having legal documentation to reside in the U.S., they fear reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may come to detain immigrants for deportation, in Aurora, Colorado, U.S., January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court has rejected a bid by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to set aside a judge's order holding it unlawfully rolled back temporary protections from deportation granted to 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States.

A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision late Wednesday declined to pause a judge's September 5 ruling holding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacked the authority to end the program, known as Temporary Protected Status or TPS.