Immigration group sues DHS over reversing deportation protections for Venezuelan migrants

An immigration advocacy group filed a lawsuit late Wednesday against the Department of Homeland Security over Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision to rescind Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.

The lawsuit is one of a handful of legal actions recently taken against the new secretary over her decision. Noem revoked the extension of deportation protections for over 600,000 Venezuelans last month, after former President Joe Biden extended the protections shortly before leaving office.

The immigration group National TPS Alliance slammed Noem for her orders in the lawsuit, claiming they deprived the Venezuelans of the "right to live and work in this country" for the next year and a half," according to The Hill.

The suit also claimed Noem did not have the authority to reverse Biden's extension.

“The Secretary’s actions are illegal for multiple reasons," the group wrote. "At the outset, DHS has no authority to ‘vacate’ a prior TPS extension. The TPS statute tightly regulates the conditions under which TPS decisions can be made, setting time periods and other procedural rules that must be followed for both extensions and terminations."

Under Noem's reversal, Venezuelans who were given TPS in 2021 can stay in the U.S. through September, but those who received it in 2023 will only be able to remain through April.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans flooded into the U.S. during the Biden administration because of political unrest and a massive food shortage. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.