A hearing in the case of National TPS Alliance et al. v. Noem et al. is scheduled for today at 2:00 PM PDT in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson in the Northern District of California, San Francisco. Judge Thompson, nominated by President Joe Biden in November 2021 and confirmed in May 2022, will preside over the proceedings.
The case challenges the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, with the hearing focusing on the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the implementation of these terminations.
On Monday, July 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with the United States and Kristi Noem, submitted extensive administrative records totaling 4,876 pages to support the termination of TPS for the three countries.
For Nepal, DHS filed a 1,988-page record, including a main document and 13 exhibit parts, justifying the TPS termination. Similarly, DHS submitted 1,719 pages for Nicaragua and 1,169 pages for Honduras, each with multiple exhibits, to defend the decision to end TPS designations.
Both parties also filed responses to the court’s questions for the July 29 hearing. The National TPS Alliance, representing the plaintiffs, submitted a 28-page response, while the defendants, representing the Trump administration, filed a 24-page response. These documents address the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone the TPS terminations, which are scheduled to take effect on August 5, 2025, for Nepal and September 8, 2025, for Honduras and Nicaragua.
On July 25, 2025, New York City joined a coalition of 13 local U.S. governments, including Los Angeles County, in filing an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs. The brief urges the court to delay the implementation of the TPS terminations, arguing that the abrupt end of TPS would cause significant harm to affected communities and local economies.
The lawsuit, filed on July 7, 2025, by the National TPS Alliance and seven individual plaintiffs, accuses the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedure Act, engaging in racially motivated constitutional violations, and failing to provide an adequate transition period for TPS recipients.
Among the plaintiffs are two Nepali individuals: S.K., a 33-year-old TPS holder living in San Francisco, married to a U.S. citizen and employed in theater, and Sandhya Lama, a 43-year-old single mother of three U.S. citizen children living in Virginia, one of whom requires special medical care.
In June, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepal, affecting approximately 7,500 Nepali immigrants in the United States. The designation will end at 11:59 p.m. on August 5, 2025, giving beneficiaries a mere 60-day window to either leave the U.S. or secure alternative legal status.
TPS is a humanitarian program that allows nationals of designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S. when returning to their home country is unsafe due to conditions like armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances. Nepal was granted TPS on June 24, 2015, by then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, following a catastrophic earthquake on April 25, 2015, which caused significant loss of life and infrastructure damage. The disaster left Nepal temporarily unable to safely manage the return of its citizens, justifying TPS for approximately 15,000 Nepalis in the U.S. at the time.
Over the years, the number of Nepali TPS beneficiaries has decreased significantly. By March 2023, the figure stood at 8,525, dropping to 8,100 by September 2023. By March 2024, it further declined to 7,875, and the most recent report from December 2024 indicates 7,505 approved TPS holders. This reduction reflects many Nepalis transitioning to other immigration statuses, such as work visas or permanent residency, or leaving the program voluntarily.
Under TPS regulations, if the DHS Secretary does not announce a decision to extend or terminate a country’s TPS designation at least 60 days before its expiration, the designation automatically extends for six months. Nepal’s TPS would likely extend automatically to December 24, 2025, as no final decision had been made. However, DHS has now opted to terminate the program with only a 60-day wind-down period, a significant departure from the standard six-month extension.
The termination of Nepal’s TPS is not the first attempt to end the program. In 2017 and 2018, the Trump administration sought to terminate TPS for Nepal, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Sudan. These efforts faced legal challenges, notably in the Ramos v. Nielsen case, where TPS beneficiaries, including Nepali plaintiffs Keshav Bhattarai and Sajjan Pandey, secured a preliminary injunction in 2018. This injunction preserved TPS for affected countries for nearly five years. The advocacy group Adhikaar played a pivotal role in supporting the case.
In 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the injunction, paving the way for potential terminations. However, the Biden administration later reversed the Trump-era termination decisions, extending Nepal’s TPS until June 24, 2025, and fulfilling the plaintiffs’ demands. On December 28, 2023, a federal district court dismissed the Ramos case, deeming it moot after the Biden administration’s extensions.
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Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
