A US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cancelling work permits and other legal documents issued to around 5,000 Venezuelans under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.

In a Friday night ruling, US District Judge Edward Chen said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely overstepped her authority when she attempted to cancel documents that had allowed the recipients to live and work legally in the United States.

The documents in question were issued during the final days of President Joe Biden’s term, when the Department of Homeland Security extended TPS protections for Venezuelans by 18 months, through October 2026. Noem later reversed that extension as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to end TPS for Venezuelans.

The US Supreme Court on May 19 allowed that broader rollback to proceed but said Venezuelans could still challenge the invalidation of individual TPS-related documents. Judge Chen ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who argued that losing their documents could lead to job loss or deportation.

“There is nothing in the statute that gives the Secretary power to cancel these documents,” Chen wrote, noting that only a small fraction, about 5,000 out of 350,000 Venezuelans, hold such documents.

“This smaller number cuts against any contention that the continued presence of these TPS holders who were granted TPS-related documents by the Secretary would be a toll on the national or local economies or a threat to national security,” Chen said.

Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin criticized the ruling, saying it “delays justice and seeks to kneecap the president’s constitutionally vested powers.”

The decision came just hours after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to terminate a separate immigration “parole” program that had granted temporary entry to more than 500,000 people from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

(With inputs from Reuters)