Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)
As they argued in their amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court, the lawmakers again stressed to the Ninth Circuit that the District Court correctly ruled in alignment with the intent of Congress – that the Executive Branch is to determine humanitarian protections such as TPS according to set criteria as opposed to political preferences. “The Northern District of California properly determined that the plain text of the TPS statute does not support the Secretary’s argument that her actions are unreviewable. Nor does it support the Secretary’s actions with respect to Venezuelan TPS. Instead, the Executive Branch’s interpretation of the TPS statute essentially rewrites the statute to claim a power that Congress did not delegate to the Executive Branch,” they wrote in the brief’s introduction.
WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) were joined by 125 members of Congress in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem, urging the reversal of the Trump Administration’s baseless decision to vacate and terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuela. First granted for Venezuela in 2021, TPS has provided approximately 600,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. refuge from economic turmoil and humanitarian crisis in their home country, and authorization to live and work legally in America.
A District Court ruled in September that the Trump Administration’s decision to vacate and terminate Venezuela’s TPS designation was unlawful. After the Trump Administration appealed the decision to the Supreme Court to request a stay of that ruling, Senator Van Hollen, Representative Wasserman Schultz, and their colleagues filed an amicus brief calling for the District Court decision to be upheld. The Supreme Court later sided with the Administration – allowing the Department of Homeland Security to continue stripping Venezuelans of their protections to remain lawfully in the U.S. while the case is fully considered in the Ninth Circuit.
As they argued in their amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court, the lawmakers again stressed to the Ninth Circuit that the District Court correctly ruled in alignment with the intent of Congress – that the Executive Branch is to determine humanitarian protections such as TPS according to set criteria as opposed to political preferences. “The Northern District of California properly determined that the plain text of the TPS statute does not support the Secretary’s argument that her actions are unreviewable. Nor does it support the Secretary’s actions with respect to Venezuelan TPS. Instead, the Executive Branch’s interpretation of the TPS statute essentially rewrites the statute to claim a power that Congress did not delegate to the Executive Branch,” they wrote in the brief’s introduction.
They also pointed to Congress’ tradition of bipartisan support for TPS and for protecting law-abiding individuals from being sent into harm’s way, writing, “the Secretary’s actions not only violate the TPS statute but also contradict the bipartisan opposition to terminating Venezuela TPS. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have long supported temporary protected status for Venezuelans who fled dangerous conditions in their country – conditions that persist today.”
Senator Van Hollen and Representative Wasserman Schultz have been leaders in the fight to protect TPS as the Trump Administration and the right-wing Supreme Court push to undermine it. Senator Van Hollen has introduced the SECURE Act, legislation to provide qualified Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients a path to legal permanent residency. Representative Wasserman Schultz co-authored the bipartisan Venezuela TPS Act of 2025, which would restore lawful status to Venezuelans deprived of protections by the Trump Administration, as well as the bipartisan Venezuelan Adjustment Act, which would allow Venezuelan TPS and parole recipients to become lawful permanent residents.
Joining Senator Van Hollen and Representative Wasserman Schultz on this brief are Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); and Representatives Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Herb Conaway (D-N.J.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), John Larson (D-Conn.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).
Text of the lawmakers’ argument is below, and the full brief can be viewed here.