A federal judge accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of pushing racist conspiracies in a scathing ruling involving the Trump administration’s efforts to deport tens of thousands of immigrants who have been living and working in the country legally.
In July, Noem canceled the Temporary Protected Status—a designation that allows immigrants from certain countries to live and work in the U.S. and pay taxes—for 63,000 immigrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and ordered them to return to their home countries by September 8.
“Color is neither a poison nor a crime,” Judge Trina Thompson wrote in a decision extending the immigrants’ TPS status until at least November 18, when she will hold a hearing to consider further relief.
In her ruling, she said that Noem was perpetuating “the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population,” also known as the great replacement theory.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Thompson’s decision highlighted that TPS designations had been in effect since the 1990s for Honduras and Nicaragua, and since 2015 in the case of Nepal, meaning many of the people who were ordered to go home had been living and working in the U.S. for years.
During that time, some of them earned college degrees, bought homes, started businesses, and had children and grandchildren who were U.S. citizens, Judge Trina Thompson wrote in her ruling.
“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood,” Thompson wrote. “The Court disagrees.”
In January, Trump issued an executive order that called for limiting the scope of TPS in order to stop an “invasion” of “illegal aliens” who are “committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans.” He also said on the campaign trail that migrants were “poisoning the blood of our country,” Thompson, a Biden appointee with the Northern District of California, noted.
Noem has made similar statements, describing immigration as an “invasion happening on purpose… to remake the foundation of this country,” and said during her confirmation hearing that TPS “has been abused and manipulated by the Biden administration.”
She also testified that TPS extensions—which have long been approved by both Republican and Democratic administrations—would “no longer be allowed” to go forward as they had been.
By law, the decision on whether or not to extend TPS must be based on an objective review of facts on the ground. In this case, the decision appears to have been “preordained” based on Noem and Trump’s statements, Thompson wrote.
She also criticized the administration for conflating TPS holders with criminals.
The Department of Homeland Security has generally described TPS holders as “poorly vetted migrants” that included “MS-13 gang members to known terrorists and murderers,” Thompson noted.
In fact, TPS holders are in the country legally and would not qualify for TPS if they had been convicted of either a felony or two or more misdemeanors in the U.S., Thompson wrote. They have also contributed billions of dollars to the economy by legally working, paying taxes, and contributing to Medicare and Social Security.
“By stereotyping the TPS program and immigrants as invaders that are criminal, and by highlighting the need for migration management, Secretary Noem’s statements perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population,” Thompson wrote.
The Trump administration will almost certainly appeal the decision, according to Politico. In May, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end TPS for about 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S.
The post Judge Tears Into ICE Barbie in Blistering Ruling on Deportation Plot appeared first on The Daily Beast.
