WASHINGTON. – The Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit failed in favor of federal judge Edward Chen, recognizing its jurisdiction in the case of the temporary protection status (TPS) for around 600,000 Venezuelan migrantswhich allowed them to live legally in the United States.
The news was confirmed by Adelys Ferro, director of Venezuelan American Caucus, who celebrated the judicial decision and stressed that it is now corresponding to the federal district judge of San Francisco, Edward Chen, decide whether it dictates an emergency measure that maintains immigration protection or if it issues a substantive ruling in the litigation.
“I told them that they were positive, that they had hope and faith. We are in the hands of the best lawyers”, Said Ferro, in a video shared on social networks.
The ruling came from a panel of three judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided to keep the protections in force while the litigation progresses. With this, the previous decision of Judge Chen was confirmed, who in March had determined that the plaintiffs were likely to demonstrate that the administration was overreacted in his authority and acted moved by racial animosity.
Cen ordered to freeze the cancellation of permits, but the Supreme Court temporarily revoked that decision in an emergency appeal. Now, the new ruling returns the protection to the beneficiaries of the program.
What the failure means
The measure offers a respite to about 350,000 Venezuelans whose protections won in April, and another 250,000 whose permits were scheduled to expire on September 10.
Although the definitive effect of the decision is not yet clearfor thousands of migrants who depend on this status, for now, for now, the possibility of continuing to work and legally residing in the United States.
With this resolution, Judge Chen maintains the authority to issue emergency measures in favor of the TPS beneficiaries and to decide on the general case that faces migrants with the administration of former president Donald Trump, who at the time tried to cancel the program.
Judge Chen’s decision
The decision is considered a key step for more than hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan families that depend on this status to live and work legally in the United States.
The judicial process continues in development. Judge Cen is now expected to define whether to support the arguments of the plaintiffs and the National Alliance of the TPS, who seek to maintain the protections, or if he grants the federal government in his position that the program must be completed.
For now, community and beneficiary leaders maintain the expectation that Chen’s decision opens a new hope for Venezuelans in the US.
