A federal appeals court has given the Trump administration the go-ahead to end deportation protections and revoke work permits for more than 63,000 immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal, despite a lower court judge’s conclusion that the administration’s action was driven by racism.

A federal appeals court has granted the Trump administration’s request to pause an order from a federal judge who had stopped the termination of deportation protections and work authorizations for immigrants from Nicaragua,

Temporary Protected Status is a designation that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary, preventing migrants from being deported and allowing them to work. The Trump administration has aggressively sought to remove the protection, thus making more people eligible for removal.