SAN FRANCISCO, United States (CMC) — A federal judge Monday heard a challenge from a group of Caribbean Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders against what they described as the Donald Trump administration’s unlawful termination of TPS humanitarian relief.

Individual Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders are asking the court to pause United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end protections by April 2, while the case moves through the courts.

The San Diego, California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) said an estimated 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders are set to lose work authorisation and legal status by the first week in April.

HBA also said 250,000 Venezuelan TPS holders and 500,000 Haitian TPS holders risk losing their protected status this summer as a result of Trump’s actions.

The hearing is the first in NTPSA v Noem, a lawsuit filed in February challenging the administration’s decision to cancel protections, which had already been granted by the prior secretary, HBA said, adding that Noem’s actions are “unprecedented”.

The plaintiffs also argue that the actions are “without authority and motivated by racism”.

HBA said together, the suit seeks to protect more than a million Haitian and Venezuelan TPS holders and that the campaign to protect TPS is led by the National TPS Alliance, a member-led organisation of tens of thousands of TPS holders and the lead plaintiff in the case.

The plaintiffs are represented by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the ACLU Foundations of Northern California and Southern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

“Today, we stand united to defend the rights of over one million TPS holders who are at risk of losing their protections and facing uncertainty,” said Jose Palma, coordinator of the National TPS Alliance.

“The termination of TPS for Venezuelan and Haitian communities is not only unlawful but also deeply harmful to families who have sought refuge from unimaginable danger. We will continue to fight this unjust decision in court and ensure that TPS holders are not stripped of their rights, their work, and their security,” he added.

HBA attorney Erik Crew said “we stand with these courageous plaintiffs who deserve to know that the humanitarian protection granted to them will not be stripped away in a matter of days.

“We will keep fighting to defend Venezuelan TPS holders, as well as Haitian TPS holders who have been targeted with the same lawlessness, and the TPS programme as a whole,” Crew added.

Jessica Bansal, attorney at the NDLON, said “DHS’ attempt to strip humanitarian protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants is unprecedented and clearly illegal.

“We are seeking emergency relief from the Court to prevent the irreparable harm immigrant families will suffer if DHS’ unlawful decision is allowed to take effect next week,” she said.

HBA has “unequivocally” condemned Trump’s decision to terminate the legal status of more than 500,000 Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants admitted under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program, popularly known as the CHNV programme.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said last Friday that it will officially end the programme on April 24, 2025, giving the migrants about a month before they face deportation.

“This is not policy, it is premeditated cruelty, rooted in white supremacy, anti-Blackness and xenophobia,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) over the weekend.

She noted that the CHNV programme, initiated in 2023, was designed “to offer temporary safe haven to migrants fleeing authoritarian regimes, economic collapse, and political violence—conditions often worsened by US interventionism and neoliberal policies.

“The revocation of their status is not only a direct assault on immigrant families but a clear signal that the Trump administration is doubling down on authoritarianism and ethnic cleansing,” she said, stating that, during his campaign, Trump referred to these migrants as “‘poisoning the blood of our country, language that echoes 20th-century fascist regimes.

“Let’s be clear: this is a war on poor, black and brown people who dared to seek safety. These families have followed the rules. Now, they are being told they’re no longer welcome because Trump wants to rally his base with racist fear-mongering,” Jozef said.

“We remind the public that the CHNV programme has been life-saving. Nearly all of its beneficiaries were vetted, sponsored and admitted legally,” Jozef said, adding that terminating this programme is “not just an immigration rollback, it’s an orchestrated effort to unleash ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency), tear apart families, and criminalise the very existence of people of color on US soil, consistent with the agency of Project 2025”.