RM

Responsibility Meter

Current-event accountability

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courtsTemporary Protected Status RulingSan Francisco, California, United Statesstable 85.0

Appeals court says Noem's TPS termination decision was illegal

A federal appeals court ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted illegally when she moved to end Temporary Protected Status protections for Venezuelans and Haitians. The decision kept those protections in place and sharply rebuked the administration's attempt to terminate them.

curated-2026launch-packimmigrationtemporary-protected-statusvenezuelahaitiappeals-court

Published

1/29/2026

Current public event date

Source base

1 sources

Evidence records attached to this event

Actor field

2 ranked

Actors currently scored in public view

Incident links

1

Analyses connected to this incident

Editorial note

Curated from Associated Press coverage of the appellate ruling on TPS protections.

Event harm

79.0

Overall event-level harm score

Top culpability

53.6

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Confidence

85.0

How stable the current public reading is

Top responsibility

67.8

Highest actor responsibility before event harm is applied

Event harm

Harm context

The public harm score is grounded in who bears the harm, what protections are in play, and the broader social fallout.

Who is harmed

Migrants, asylum seekers, mixed-status families, and communities vulnerable to enforcement or exclusion.

Rights or laws at risk

Public-health protections, environmental safeguards, and community safety standards are on the line.

Societal impact

The decision can reset enforcement norms, shift institutional power, and influence future cases well beyond San Francisco, California, United States.

Overview

Highest ranked actor

Start with the strongest current attribution before moving into the full ranking and supporting detail.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Rank #1 with the highest weighted culpability in the current public reading.

Culpability

53.6

Weighted contribution

Confidence

91.0

Attribution stability

Rank #1authorizerpersonUnited States

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Ranked in the public field as a authorizer with a current responsibility band of substantial.

stable 91.0

Responsibility

67.8

Actor-level role score before event harm is applied.

Culpability

53.6

Final contribution after event harm weighting.

Confidence

91.0

Current stability of the attribution.

Evidence links

1

Attached source links for this actor.

Why this actor is ranked here

The appellate ruling centers on the secretary's decision to end TPS protections, making Noem the clearest authorizing actor in the attempted policy change.

1 evidence link

Chart views

Score breakdown

Switch between ranked culpability, top-actor dimension mix, contribution balance, and revision timeline.

Ranked actors

2

Actors represented in the ladder and contribution views.

Top actor

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Highest-ranked actor in the current public reading.

Revisions

7

Entries contributing to the synthetic timeline chart.

Active chart

Ladder

Current visualization mode.

Ranked field

Other ranked actors

Review the rest of the ranked field, with confidence warnings and supporting detail for each actor.

Rank #2executoragencyUnited States

Department of Homeland Security TPS apparatus

Ranked in the public field as a executor with a current responsibility band of substantial.

supported 79.0

Responsibility

59.0

Actor-level role score before event harm is applied.

Culpability

46.6

Final contribution after event harm weighting.

Confidence

79.0

Current stability of the attribution.

Evidence links

1

Attached source links for this actor.

Why this actor is ranked here

The department's TPS machinery would have carried out the termination and therefore holds the primary execution role behind the challenged action.

1 evidence link