A federal appeals court in Pasadena Friday blocked the Trump administration from canceling the temporary protected status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States, including a community in the Southland, who contend they are unable to safely return to their home country.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that maintained protections for Venezuelans while the case proceeds through court.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attempted to end the protections just days after taking office in January. However, a federal district court put her decision on hold pending a final resolution in the case, finding that the secretary’s decision appeared to be motivated by racial bias towa

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