WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from ending deportation protections for thousands of migrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua after opponents argued the terminations were motivated by racial hostility.
The administration's decisions to end Temporary Protected Status for some 89,000 migrants failed to adequately consider conditions in the three countries that would prevent them from returning, San Francisco-based District Judge Trina Thompson wrote.
Thompson cited statements by Republican President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem portraying immigrants as criminals and a drain on U.S. society.
"These statements reflect a stereotyping of the immigrants protected under the TPS program as criminal invaders and perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population," wrote Thompson, an appointee of Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
TPS provides deportation relief and work permits to people already in the U.S. if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event. Under the program, Noem has the authority to grant, extend or terminate TPS designations for specific countries.
Trump has sought to end most TPS enrollment as part of a broader effort to restrict both legal and illegal immigration. In TPS termination notices, the administration has said that allowing the migrants to remain in the U.S. is contrary to the country's interests.
The Supreme Court in October allowed the Trump administration to proceed with ending TPS for some 300,000 Venezuelans, but lower courts have continued to rule against other terminations. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Boston blocked a move to end protections for hundreds of migrants from South Sudan.
In her ruling, Thompson found that the National TPS Alliance, a group representing the TPS enrollees, had plausibly alleged the terminations were motivated by racial animus.
The program covers some 72,000 Hondurans, 13,000 Nepalese and 4,000 Nicaraguans, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Lisa Shumaker)
