Counsel for TPS holders from Nepal and other countries notified the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on March 6 that a group of former judges has weighed in on a related dispute over the treatment of unexplained Supreme Court stay orders.

In a Rule 28(j) letter, attorney Ahilan Arulanantham informed the court that 175 former federal and state judges filed an amicus brief supporting respondents in Noem v. Dahlia Doe before the Supreme Court of the United States.

The judges’ brief focuses on how lower courts should treat Supreme Court stay orders that provide no reasoning. According to the letter, that question is directly relevant to the Ninth Circuit’s stay in National TPS Alliance v. Noem.

Arulanantham argued the development strengthens the case for rehearing the TPS dispute en banc, asking the full Ninth Circuit to reconsider the panel’s stay affecting TPS protections for nationals of Nepal and other countries.