Federal judge blocks revocation of asylum applications and work permits for thousands of immigrants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s policies that imposed new hurdles to asylum applications and revoked work authorizations for people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The emergency order issued Tuesday, July 21 by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton provides temporary relief for thousands of immigrants who still hold valid work permits and will remain in effect until August 5, when the judge is expected to decide whether to maintain the suspension of those measures in the long term.

The ruling responds to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of immigrant-rights organizations seeking to challenge several immigration measures included in the Big, Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed by Trump in July 2025. Among the contested provisions are the imposition of fees for asylum applications and the elimination of employment authorizations for TPS beneficiaries from countries affected by war, natural disasters, and conflict that prevents their return home.

“The court’s decision ensures that thousands of families will not lose their livelihoods or peace of mind while the legality of these policies is determined,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the organizations that filed the suit. Democracy Forward said in a statement: “Without this emergency intervention, many TPS beneficiaries would have been unable to work as of July 22, 2026, while asylum seekers faced denials of their applications and immediate termination of their employment authorization.”

In practice, the emergency order benefits asylum applicants from all countries and, particularly, TPS beneficiaries from Haiti and Venezuela.

“The most important aspect of this decision is its impact on asylum seekers who had pending cases and who were about to lose their work authorization or even face expedited removal for failing to pay the new annual $100 fee imposed by the Trump administration,” activist Adelys Ferro, executive director of the NGO Venezuelan American Caucus, told EL PAÍS. She added that these people will now have the opportunity to pay the required fee and continue their cases while retaining work authorization.

Meanwhile, Haitian immigrants with TPS who faced the loss of their work permits on July 24 will be able to keep them until November 2026. That is when the most recent renewal of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals, approved by the Biden administration, expires.

For Venezuelan immigrants, the relief applies only to a small group of beneficiaries who filed to renew their TPS before February 5, 2025, and whose work permits were valid through October 2026. According to the Venezuelan American Caucus’s estimates, between 5,000 and 10,000 Venezuelans still hold that status and could benefit from the emergency order.

So far, lower courts are the only ones to have pushed back against Trump’s immigration agenda. Although several lower courts have ruled against him repeatedly, the president has often had the backing of the Supreme Court for some of his most contentious initiatives, such as ending temporary protections for people fleeing countries in turmoil and limiting the number of people who may seek asylum, among other measures.

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