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Venezuelan TPS: Legal Challenges and Employment Impacts
On May 19, 2025, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court injunction blocking the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans. As a result of this order, Venezuela's TPS designation may now be ended as previously announced in February 2025, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This ruling leaves approximately 350,000 Venezuelan nationals potentially subject to deportation and without work authorization. Notably, the court's order did not provide an explanation or any specific timing for the loss of the protected status, leaving Venezuelan TPS holders affected, in limbo. At this point, DHS has not yet clarified how the order is interpreted and what the timeline or process for revocation might look like. While the order only directly affects Venezuelan TPS holders who became eligible in 2023, it may have further reaching consequences for other TPS holders.
While litigation will likely continue, Venezuelan TPS holders should stay informed on the case and explore other forms of immigration protection that they may be eligible for.
Termination of TPS for Afghanistan
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, effective on July 14, 2025, absent court intervention. The TPS designation for the country expired on May 20, 2025, and the revocation may impact over 11,000 individuals who reside and work in the United States, unless they have alternative options to remain in the U.S. DHS determined that conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements based on a review of the country conditions and in consultation with the Department of State. DHS determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions.
Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) granted to Afghan TPS beneficiaries will be automatically extended through this 60-day notice period, valid through July 14, 2025. Therefore, employers may accept, for the purposes of I-9 verification, any TPS EADs presented by Afghan beneficiaries with expiration dates of November 20, 2023, or May 20, 2025, as valid through July 14, 2025.
SCOTUS Birthright Citizenship: Awaiting a Landmark Decision
On May 15, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments inTrump v. CASA,Trump v. Washington, andTrump v. New Jersey, on the legality of President Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship in the United States. The Trump Administration is seeking to lift the nationwide injunctions blocking Executive Order 14160 (January 20, 2025) and allow the executive branch to rewrite how and if individuals born in the U.S. are deemed to be U.S. citizens.
Pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment virtually every person born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen. The Fourteenth Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1868 to remedy the long-standing problem of the disenfranchisement of the former enslaved people who were born in the U.S. These disenfranchised people were freed during the U.S. Civil War but were not considered U.S. citizens under the U.S. Supreme Court decision inDred Scott v. Sanford.
Lower courts have temporarily blocked the enforcement of EO 14160 nationwide. The Administration is seeking to dissolve these nationwide injunctions so the order can take effect everywhere but the plaintiffs' zip codes. If successful, this procedural change would force every affected newborn to sue individually while the Executive enforces its rewrite of 150 years of settled law.
A decision in the case is expected by early summer.
These developments underscore the ongoing impact of U.S. immigration policy, with the potential for significant legal and economic ramifications for affected communities. Moore & Van Allen is closely monitoring these developments as they unfold.
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