WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A United States (US) federal appeals court temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Friday from stripping legal protections from some 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States.

A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on the administration’s plans to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals.

US District Judge Edward Chen said the plan to end TPS for Venezuelan nationals “smacks of racism” and mischaracterises them as criminals.

A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the lower court’s ruling shielding the Venezuelans from deportation while the case continues.

“In enacting the TPS statute, Congress designed a system of temporary status that was predictable, dependable, and insulated from electoral politics,” Judge Kim Wardlaw said.

“Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they face irreparable harm to their lives, families, and livelihood.”

The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for Venezuelans for 18 months just days before Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, citing ongoing crises in the South American country under longtime ruler Nicolas Maduro.

The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration in May to temporarily end TPS for Venezuelans while the case was being heard in the appeals court.

The administration is expected to appeal the 9th Circuit’s ruling to the conservative-dominated top court.

Trump campaigned for president, promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants, and a number of his executive orders around immigration have encountered pushback from judges across the country.

He sought to end the TPS program during his first term but was stymied by legal opposition.

According to the Pew Research Centre, as of March 2024 there were 1.2 million people eligible for or receiving TPS in the United States, with Venezuelans making up the largest group.

In addition to Venezuelans, the Trump administration has also moved to revoke TPS for Afghans, Cameroonians, Haitians, Hondurans, Nepalese and Nicaraguans.

Those moves are also facing court challenges.