Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

5. Department of Homeland Security · Major · Needs Congress

Repeal Temporary Protected Status designations

Partially done

145 5. Department of Homeland Security

“Repeal Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations;”

What has happened

  1. Partially done

    State of the ask: DHS has terminated TPS for thirteen countries by notice, most in effect; the Haiti termination is enjoined and the Venezuela set-aside survives only under a Supreme Court stay; Lebanon's designation was extended on 2026-05-29 (South Sudan's had been in 2025-05-06 before its termination). Designations still exist and Congress has not repealed the statute.

  2. Partially done

    The District of Columbia (Judge Reyes, Miot v. Trump, 1:25-cv-02471) stayed the effective date of the Haiti termination under APA §705, one day before it would have ended TPS for about 353,000 Haitians; the district court (02-23) and the D.C. Circuit (03-06, Judge Walker dissenting) refused to stay that order and the Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs' conditional petition for certiorari before judgment (2026-06-29). The order blocks one country's termination; eleven others were in force, so the Status stays `partial` rather than `blocked`.

  3. Partially done

    The Supreme Court stayed the September 5 judgment as to the Venezuela vacatur and termination pending appeal and certiorari (Justice Jackson dissenting); the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment on 2026-01-28 and denied rehearing en banc 2026-03-11, but the stay holds while a certiorari petition (due 2026-07-09) is pending. DHS went on to terminate Syria (09-22), South Sudan (11-06), Burma (11-25), Haiti again (11-28, effective 2026-02-03), Ethiopia (12-15), Somalia (2026-01-14) and Yemen (2026-03-03).

  4. Partially done

    Judge Chen entered final judgment setting aside the Venezuela vacatur and termination and the Haiti partial vacatur under APA §706; the Ninth Circuit denied a stay on 2025-09-17. The order stopped the Venezuela terminations only: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Haiti (07-01), Honduras and Nicaragua stayed terminated, so the ask as a whole was not stopped and the Status remains `partial`. DHS meanwhile terminated Venezuela's separate 2021 designation (09-08, effective 2025-11-07).

  5. Partially done

    DHS terminated the designations of Haiti (07-01), Honduras and Nicaragua (07-08); with Afghanistan, Cameroon and Nepal, six countries' TPS ended within two months of the Supreme Court's stay.

  6. Partially done

    The Supreme Court stayed the March 31 order pending appeal and certiorari (Justice Jackson dissenting), letting the Venezuela termination take effect. DHS then terminated Afghanistan (05-13), Cameroon (06-04) and Nepal (06-06).

  7. Blocked

    The Northern District of California (Judge Chen, National TPS Alliance v. Noem, 3:25-cv-01766) postponed the effective date of the Venezuela vacatur and termination under APA §705, keeping TPS in force for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans. The Ninth Circuit denied a stay and later affirmed (2025-08-29).

  8. Partially done

    DHS terminated the 2023 designation of Venezuela for TPS (effective 2025-04-07), two days after vacating the Biden administration's extension; Haiti's extension was partially vacated on 2025-02-24. The first of a series of country-by-country terminations, done by the Secretary under 8 U.S.C. 1254a rather than by Congress.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • The Mandate says “repeal … designations” and the file is flagged Requires Congress; the administration instead used the Secretary’s power to terminate designations one country at a time. We track those terminations as achievement by other means (partial), never done, because designations (Lebanon, El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and others) still exist and the statute is untouched.
  • Terminations found in the Federal Register (DHS): Venezuela 2023 (2025-02-05), Afghanistan (05-13), Cameroon (06-04), Nepal (06-06), Haiti (07-01), Honduras (07-08), Nicaragua (07-08), Venezuela 2021 (09-08), Syria (09-22), South Sudan (11-06), Burma (11-25), Haiti again (11-28), Ethiopia (12-15), Somalia (2026-01-14), Yemen (2026-03-03). Extensions: South Sudan (2025-05-06), Lebanon (2026-05-29).
  • Litigation we could not read and therefore did not turn into events: National TPS Alliance v. Noem, N.D. Cal. 3:25-cv-05687 (filed 2025-07-07, Honduras/Nepal/Nicaragua) and its Ninth Circuit appeal 25-4901 (filed 2025-08-04) — CourtListener dockets https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70726295/national-tps-alliance-v-noem/ and https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71066124/national-tps-alliance-et-al-v-noem-et-al/ (the pages refused to open for us); Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. USCIS, D. Mass. 1:26-cv-13038 (filed 2026-07-01) and First Circuit 26-1893; Supreme Court 25A1334 (Mullin v. National TPS Alliance — an extension of time to seek certiorari to 2026-07-09, granted by Justice Kagan; https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25a1334.html). Whether certiorari was filed or acted on after 2026-07-09 is not on any source we loaded — an open question.
  • The Ninth Circuit’s 2026-03-18 order (No. 25-2120) declined to vacate its August 2025 opinion as moot; no Status change.
  • Supreme Court docket 25-1077 (https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-1077.html): the Haitian plaintiffs’ conditional petition for certiorari before judgment, denied 2026-06-29; the D.C. Circuit appeal 26-5050 is still pending, so the Haiti block stands.
Action
repeal
Object
Temporary Protected Status designations
ID
335