A federal judge has impeded the Trump administration’s efforts to end legal protections for immigrants from three specific countries, concluding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s initiative was likely motivated by “racial animus.”

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a designation by the Department of Homeland Security given to individuals from countries experiencing crises, such as natural disasters, providing temporary refuge in the U.S. for those citizens, as outlined by the department here.

Noem contended in her directives to terminate TPS for Nepal, Nicaragua, and Honduras that the situations in these nations had improved sufficiently to justify revoking the designations. However, U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson was skeptical, indicating that the secretary’s actions may not have involved a fair assessment of the conditions in these countries.

Judge Thompson, in her detailed 37-page ruling, noted that the plaintiffs, spearheaded by a group advocating for TPS known as the National TPS Alliance, offered compelling evidence suggesting the Secretary’s decision to terminate TPS for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua was influenced by a predetermined goal to dismantle the TPS program, instead of an impartial evaluation of the countries’ circumstances.

The court recounts that Noem had issued a federal registrar notice in June that would terminate TPS for Nepal, set to take effect on Aug. 5. In the following month, she extended similar termination notices for Honduras and Nicaragua, effective Sept. 8. This spurred immigration advocacy groups and individual TPS beneficiaries to file a lawsuit, seeking to delay the terminations by arguing that the revocations violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment.

Thompson, a Joe Biden appointee, found that the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed” on the merits of both of these claims. Regarding the APA, not only were Noem’s efforts “preordained,” as the TPS holders argued, but they “deviated from prior practice without good reason” – with that prior practice being the allowance of six months for TPS holders to “transition” out of the country, not the 60 days Noem allowed.

The immigration advocates’ other claim was that Noem violated equal protections under the Fifth Amendment. It was here that Thompson was especially critical of the former South Dakota governor.

Pointing to past statements by Noem, the San Francisco-based judge wrote that they “reflect the Secretary’s animus against immigrants and the TPS program even though individuals with TPS hold lawful status—a protected status that was expressly conferred by Congress with the purpose of providing humanitarian relief.”

“Their presence is not a crime,” Thompson added. “Rather, TPS holders already live in the United States and have contributed billions to the economy by legally working in jobs, paying taxes, and paying contributions into 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,” the judge said.

Thompson also zoomed out, looking at President Donald Trump’s administration and its larger agenda as evidence that prejudice was afoot. “The political climate surrounding the Secretary’s comments on immigrants further supports the likelihood of racial animus,” she wrote, later adding, “[c]olor is neither a poison nor a crime.”

Roughly 60,000 people from Nepal, Nicaragua, and Honduras are protected by TPS, according to the Associated Press. Their TPS designations are set to be extended for months – as the next hearing for the case is scheduled for Nov. 18.

The Trump administration must write by Aug. 7 whether it intends to appeal Thompson’s ruling.