In a significant ruling that may affect the lives of more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, the Supreme Court has given the Trump administration the go-ahead to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The late-night emergency order overturns a previous injunction by Judge Edward Chen, which had prevented the administration from ending the protections.
The unsigned majority order highlighted consistency with the Court's earlier stance, stating, "Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties’ legal arguments and relative harms generally have not." The decision reaffirmed a similar verdict from May, which had also lifted a stay issued by Chen.
This ruling paves the way for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's directive to end TPS for Venezuelans, creating a looming threat of deportation for those who do not hold legal status in the United States. The liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, with the New York Post reporting on their opposition.
Justice Jackson, in her dissent, emphasized that the TPS statute explicitly states the designation should last until its most recent extension's expiration, which would be October 2026. She criticized the majority for what she perceived as a misuse of the emergency docket, arguing that the Court underestimated the irreparable harm of siding with the executive's "unconstrained power."
The Biden administration had previously extended TPS for Venezuelans, allowing them to reside and work legally in the U.S. However, the Trump administration has moved swiftly to reverse these extensions, arguing that TPS had become a de facto route to permanent residency, which was not its intended purpose.
The Supreme Court's decision marks a pivotal shift in U.S. immigration policy, reinforcing Trump's commitment to ending what he views as a misuse of temporary protections. Since its inception in the 1990s, TPS has been a humanitarian program allowing immigrants from countries facing crises to stay in the U.S. temporarily. Critics, however, have argued that it has allowed for an indefinite extension of residency rights.
The ruling is one of the Trump administration's most significant immigration triumphs, underscoring a commitment to "restoring the rule of law," as Trump stated earlier this year. It aligns with his broader immigration strategy, which has sought to tighten the criteria for migrants to remain in the country.
