BOSTON: A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing work authorisation for tens of thousands of asylum seekers and immigrants protected under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton ruled in favour of a coalition of immigrant rights organisations and labour unions that challenged a series of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies introduced to enforce immigration restrictions passed by Congress last year.
The temporary order will remain in effect until the judge decides whether to grant a longer-term injunction, with a ruling expected by August 5.
The immigration measures stem from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law, approved by the Republican-controlled Congress in July 2025, which introduced asylum application fees for the first time and restricted employment authorisation for individuals with TPS.
Temporary Protected Status allows migrants from countries affected by war, natural disasters or other crises to live and work in the United States until conditions in their home countries improve.
As part of its broader immigration agenda, the Trump administration has sought to end TPS protections for migrants from more than a dozen countries. Last month, the US Supreme Court allowed the administration to terminate TPS for thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals.
The lawsuit, filed by legal advocacy group Democracy Forward, argued that USCIS unlawfully implemented the new immigration rules and asked the court to halt policies that could have left thousands of TPS holders from El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine without legal work authorisation beginning Wednesday.
According to the plaintiffs, USCIS improperly shortened the validity of existing work permits by applying the new restrictions retroactively to individuals already covered under TPS.
Skye Perryman, president and chief executive of Democracy Forward, said the court’s decision protects thousands of families from losing their livelihoods while the legality of the administration’s policies is reviewed.
Although the Trump administration has ended TPS protections for several other countries, it extended the designation for nationals of El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine in January. TPS for El Salvador remains valid until September 9, while protections for Sudan and Ukraine continue through October 19.
The plaintiffs also argued that the policies violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the public was not given an opportunity to comment before they were adopted, and because USCIS applied the 2025 law’s work authorisation restrictions retroactively without congressional approval.
Judge Gorton declined to temporarily block USCIS from collecting the new application fee but ruled that the agency cannot revoke work permits or impose penalties on individuals who have not paid it while the case proceeds.
