The TPS Honduras lawsuit, National TPS Alliance v. Noem, is currently on hold while the Supreme Court decides two related cases that will control the outcome. A federal district judge in California vacated the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for Honduras on December 31, 2025, but the Ninth Circuit stayed that ruling on February 9, 2026. TPS for Honduras remains terminated, and the roughly 51,000 Honduran nationals covered by the designation are without status or work authorization while the litigation proceeds.1AILA. CA9 National TPS Alliance v. Noem2FWD.us. Temporary Protected Status Report
What DHS Did in July 2025
On July 7, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Honduras no longer met the statutory conditions for TPS. A Federal Register notice the following day set the termination date at September 8, 2025, giving holders 60 days to wind down their lives in the United States.3Federal Register. Termination of the Designation of Honduras for Temporary Protected Status
Honduras had held TPS since January 5, 1999, when it was designated in response to Hurricane Mitch. Successive administrations extended the designation for 26 years. Noem’s termination notice cited Honduras’s recovery from the hurricane, pointing to $1.8 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023 and improved access to water, sanitation, and electricity. It also cited a Honduran government program called “Brother, Come Home” that offers assistance to returning nationals.3Federal Register. Termination of the Designation of Honduras for Temporary Protected Status
The Honduras action was part of a broader pattern. According to a government brief in a related Supreme Court case, the administration terminated TPS designations for all thirteen countries it reviewed after returning to office.4Supreme Court. Trump v. Miot Merits Brief
Who Sued and What They’re Arguing
The National TPS Alliance and seven individual plaintiffs filed suit the same day the termination was announced, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The case, National TPS Alliance v. Noem (No. 3:25-cv-05687), challenges the termination of TPS for Honduras alongside Nepal and Nicaragua, whose designations were ended on similar grounds.5CourtListener. National TPS Alliance v. Noem Docket The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.6ACLU of Southern California. TPS Holders Challenge Termination of Temporary Protected Status
Their case rests on two legal theories. The first is that DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act because officials “pre-determined” the outcome and then “worked backwards to search for a rationale” rather than conducting the objective country-conditions review the TPS statute requires. The complaint alleges DHS deliberately excluded categories of evidence that had justified prior extensions, including gang violence in Honduras.7ACLU of Northern California. National TPS Alliance v. Noem (NTPSA II)8National TPS Alliance. Motion to Postpone Effective Date
The second theory is that the terminations were motivated by racial and national-origin animus in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee. The plaintiffs point to public statements by Secretary Noem and President Trump characterizing TPS holders from non-white, non-European countries in derogatory terms.9Justice Action Center. National TPS Alliance v. Noem (NTPSA II) – District Court
How the Courts Have Ruled So Far
The case moved quickly. On July 31, 2025, the district court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the September 8 termination date while the case proceeded. On October 2, 2025, Judge Trina L. Thompson certified a nationwide class of more than 60,000 TPS holders from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, covering anyone granted TPS from those countries who had not obtained permanent residency, with exceptions for criminal records or residence outside the U.S. during the designation period.10National TPS Alliance. NTPSA II – Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua11Courthouse News Service. Judge OKs Nationwide Class Action for Immigrants Clinging to Protected Status
On December 31, 2025, Judge Thompson issued a 52-page decision granting summary judgment for the plaintiffs and vacating the terminations. She found the decision-making process was “preordained” and failed to follow required procedures, including consulting other federal agencies and reviewing current country conditions. The court noted an “inexplicable” departure from 22 years of DHS practice in cutting the transition period to 60 days instead of the customary six months. Judge Thompson also found “substantial evidence” that the terminations were motivated by racial animus, citing public statements by Secretary Noem and President Trump labeling TPS holders as “criminal invaders.”12Courthouse News Service. Judge Vacates Noem’s Termination of Protected Status for Nicaragua, Honduras, and Nepal
The government appealed. On February 9, 2026, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel of Judges Michael Daly Hawkins, Consuelo M. Callahan, and Eric D. Miller stayed the district court’s vacatur, concluding the government was “likely to succeed” on appeal. According to an analysis from UCLA Law, the panel declined to consider harm to TPS holders, relying instead on the Supreme Court’s earlier shadow-docket orders in a separate TPS case involving Venezuelan nationals.1AILA. CA9 National TPS Alliance v. Noem13UCLA Law. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Permits TPS Terminations for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua to Take Effect The Ninth Circuit appeal has since been held in abeyance pending the Supreme Court’s resolution of two related cases.14CourtListener. National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem et al. – Ninth Circuit Docket
Why the Supreme Court Will Effectively Decide This
Two consolidated Supreme Court cases will control the Honduras litigation. Mullin v. Doe (No. 25-1083) involves Syrian TPS holders and Trump v. Miot (No. 25-1084) involves Haitian TPS holders. The Court granted certiorari before judgment on March 16, 2026, and heard oral arguments on April 29, 2026, with a decision expected by late June or early July.15SCOTUSblog. Trump v. Miot16SCOTUSblog. Court Considers Whether Trump Administration Properly Ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti
The Court is deciding three questions that will govern the Honduras case: whether TPS termination decisions are subject to judicial review at all; if so, whether the TPS holders have valid APA claims; and whether their equal protection claims fail on the merits.17NPR. Supreme Court TPS Syria Haiti Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the TPS statute bars courts from reviewing the Secretary’s termination decisions entirely, framing them as unreviewable foreign policy judgments. Attorneys for the TPS holders responded that the Secretary must still follow statutory procedures and that the terminations resulted from discriminatory animus rather than a genuine review of country conditions.16SCOTUSblog. Court Considers Whether Trump Administration Properly Ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti
If the Supreme Court rules that TPS terminations are unreviewable, the Honduras case ends. If it rules that courts can review the decisions but that the government’s process was lawful, the same result follows. Only a ruling that preserves judicial review and finds the challengers’ claims meritorious would let the Honduras plaintiffs ultimately restore TPS protections.
What Termination Means for Honduran TPS Holders Right Now
Because the Ninth Circuit stay is in place, the July 2025 termination is currently in effect. When TPS ends, holders lose their work authorization and revert to whatever immigration status they had before receiving TPS. For many, that means becoming undocumented, since they originally entered the country without inspection.18American Immigration Council. Temporary Protected Status Overview They also lose the protection from deportation that TPS provides.19USCIS. Temporary Protected Status
TPS on its own does not lead to a green card, and a 2021 Supreme Court ruling held that recipients who entered without inspection cannot adjust to permanent residency from inside the United States. To pursue a green card through other channels, they generally must leave the country, which triggers re-entry bars of up to ten years.18American Immigration Council. Temporary Protected Status Overview Loss of employment also typically means loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, and former TPS holders become ineligible for federally funded coverage such as Medicaid and ACA marketplace plans.20KFF. Recent Changes to Temporary Protected Status Designations
Until the Supreme Court rules, the roughly 51,000 Honduran TPS holders — many of whom have lived in the United States for more than two decades — remain in that position.2FWD.us. Temporary Protected Status Report