by Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate
June 2, 2025

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from invalidating work permits and other documents that granted legal status to 5,000 Venezuelans, a subset class of the nearly 350,000 whose temporary legal protections the U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed to be terminated.

The Saturday order from U.S. District Judge Edward Chen will, for now, allow the work permits and deportation protections for that subgroup to last until October 2026, or until the entire case, which challenges the end of temporary protected status for Venezuelans and Haitians, is decided. 

Those 5,000 Venezuelans were granted extended protections by immigration officials before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on May 19 that allowed the Trump administration to move forward with revoking  protections.

During a hearing last week, Chen said he was considering an order to preserve work permits for that small group of 5,000 Venezuelans. All 350,000 previously held temporary protected status, or TPS, which allows immigrants to live in the United States for a set period because their home country is deemed too dangerous for return.

Chen, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama to a seat in the Northern District of California, acknowledged that last month’s Supreme Court decision created a small group of Venezuelans who had gotten work permits approved until October 2026 — before the high court’s order moved up the date their TPS status expired, which was April 7.

Chen in March blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary protections for the group of all 350,000 Venezuelans. Last month’s Supreme Court order means that those Venezuelans will be able to continue to challenge in court the end of their work permits and the possibility of removal, but they no longer have protections from deportation.

The case is also before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear oral arguments in July.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content presents legal developments concerning immigration protections for Venezuelans in a factual and detailed manner, highlighting judicial actions that challenge moves by the Trump administration to terminate temporary protected status for these immigrants. The mention of a judge appointed by Barack Obama and the focus on preserving protections align slightly with progressive or center-left perspectives that tend to support immigrant rights and judicial checks on executive actions. However, the article maintains a largely neutral tone without overt editorializing, making the overall lean modestly center-left rather than strongly partisan.