Advocacy groups and Venezuelan immigrants have filed suit in federal courts over terminated removal protections for Venezuelans in the United States.

On Feb. 19, 2025, the National TPS Alliance, an advocacy group for immigrants who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and seven Venezuelans living in the United States, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) decision to terminate Venezuela TPS. The termination impacts approximately 600,000 Venezuelan nationals (350,000 under the 2023 designation and 250,000 under the 2021 designation).

On Feb. 20, 2025, immigrant advocacy groups CASA, Inc. and Make the Road New York filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland also challenging the termination of Venezuela TPS.

Both suits allege that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem lacked legal authority to vacate former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Jan. 17, 2025, decision to grant an 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuela.

The suits further contend that even if DHS possessed legal authority to terminate Venezuela TPS, it arbitrarily deviated from prior decisions, incorrectly concluding that Venezuelans granted TPS reside in the United States illegally.

The plaintiffs also allege that Secretary Noem’s decision was motivated by “racial animus,” pointing to an interview she gave to Fox News announcing her Feb. 5, 2025, decision to terminate Venezuela TPS in which she referred to Venezuelans granted TPS as “dirtbags.”

Both suits cite violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process clauses. They ask the courts to declare that former DHS Secretary Mayorkas’ 18-month extension of Venezuela TPS remains in effect and to enjoin enforcement of the Feb. 3, 2025, vacatur and Feb. 5, 2025, termination decisions.

Both suits have the potential to extend the Venezuela TPS designation for individuals who registered under both the 2021 and 2023 designations, as well as the validity of work authorizations based upon Venezuela TPS, while the litigation is pending.