A federal judge just handed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a humiliating courtroom defeat — and did it by throwing her own words right back in her face.
In a scathing ruling, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitian migrants, citing not only legal failures but Noem’s own inflammatory rhetoric as evidence the decision was deeply flawed. Multiple outlets confirm the ruling lands as a major setback for the administration’s immigration agenda.
The case centers on Noem’s move to end TPS protections, a humanitarian program created to shield people from deportation when conditions in their home countries are unsafe. Haiti, plagued by political violence and instability, currently carries a State Department warning advising Americans not to travel there for any reason — a fact Judge Reyes made clear undermines the government’s argument.
But what makes the ruling especially damning is how Reyes handled Noem’s public comments. The judge directly quoted Noem’s past social media posts, where she referred to immigrants from various countries as “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” and declared, “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Those words, Reyes wrote, weren’t just ugly — they were legally relevant.
The ruling notes Noem “does not have the facts on her side and does not have the law on her side, so instead, she pounds X,” a line that’s already ricocheting across legal and political circles.
Reuters and the Associated Press both report that Reyes found Noem likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and raised serious concerns about due process and equal protection. The judge concluded that the plaintiffs — five Haitian TPS holders including professionals like a nurse and a neuroscientist — are likely to succeed on the merits of their case.
The Guardian highlighted another uncomfortable detail for the administration: the judge explicitly contrasted Noem’s caricature of immigrants with the actual lives of TPS holders, many of whom work in critical fields and have lived legally in the U.S. for years.
DHS has already signaled it plans to appeal. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blasted the ruling as “lawless activism” and insisted TPS was never meant to function as long-term protection. But the court’s message was unmistakable: hostile political messaging doesn’t replace statutory requirements — and it certainly doesn’t survive judicial scrutiny.
This ruling adds to a growing list of court losses for the administration’s immigration policies. More importantly, it sets a precedent that rhetoric once used to rally a political base can become a liability when judges start quoting it back — verbatim.
