A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 1m Venezuelans and Haitians in the US. Judge Edward Chen ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacked the authority to revoke the program, calling the decision racially biased and unsupported by reason, Reuters reported.

The ruling preserves protections for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and 521,000 Haitians, noting that sending them back could expose them to dangerous conditions amid instability in their home countries. The Trump administration plans to appeal, while the Department of Homeland Security has not commented.

TPS, created in 1991, shields individuals from deportation and grants work authorization for those from countries facing conflict, disasters, or extraordinary conditions. Under the Biden administration, the program was extended to cover these communities, a move Noem later attempted to reverse.

This decision is a major judicial check on the administration’s immigration policies, reinforcing protections for vulnerable immigrant populations, according to Reuters.