Honduran President Celebrates Court Ruling in Favor of Nationals in the US

Honduran President Xiomara Castro today applauded the decision of a U.S. federal judge who declared illegal the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of her compatriots residing in the United States.

"We celebrate the decision of a federal judge in San Francisco that halts the cancellation of TPS for thousands of Hondurans in the U.S.," the president posted on her X social media account.

Castro conveyed a message of support to her compatriots covered by this immigration program, which was rescinded on July 7 last by the administration of President Donald Trump for some 50,000 Hondurans who have resided in the northern power for more than 25 years.

"As president, I reaffirm: Honduras is with you. We will always defend your dignity and your rights. I embrace you with pride and will defend you until the last day of my mandate," emphasized the president, whose four-year term will conclude next January 27.

The dignitary referred to the ruling issued yesterday by District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco, which blocks Trump's measure to end TPS for thousands of people from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua.

According to Thompson, the decisions of the U.S. administration to cancel Temporary Protected Status did not adequately consider conditions in the three countries that would prevent their return, she emphasized.

The magistrate cited statements by Trump and his Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, in which they portrayed immigrants as criminals.

"These statements reflect a stereotype of people protected under the TPS program as criminal invaders and perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain migrant populations will replace the white population," stated the judge.

Thompson, who restored the instrument for the affected nationalities, rejected a request from the White House to dismiss the case and explained that Noem did not follow the usual DHS practice by reducing the transition period after the program's termination to 60 days.

In her ruling, she declared that the "termination of TPS for Nepal on June 6, 2025, and for Honduras and Nicaragua on July 7, 2025, were illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act," thereby invalidating Noem's order.

The beneficiaries of the program filed a lawsuit against DHS, arguing that the U.S. government ended this immigration protection, which shielded them from deportation, due to "racial animosity."

TPS for Honduras was granted on January 5, 1999, during the administration of William Clinton, following Hurricane Mitch, which devastated the Central American region.