The Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a major blow to hundreds of thousands of immigrants lawfully residing in the United States, ruling 6-3 that the Trump administration could terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. The decision affects nearly 400,000 people who had been granted legal protection due to unsafe conditions in their home countries.
Case Details and Arguments
The consolidated cases, Mullin v. Dahlia Doe and Trump v. Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, centered on whether former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem followed the law when she terminated TPS for Syria and Haiti. Noem had moved to end protections for 13 of 17 countries that held TPS designations. The plaintiffs argued that Noem failed to consult with other government agencies as required by law and that the terminations were motivated by racial animus espoused by President Donald Trump.
TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to provide relief to individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. By law, the homeland security secretary must assess whether a country should be removed from the TPS list, but that decision requires consultation with other government agencies.
Supreme Court Ruling
In the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held that Noem's decision was not subject to judicial review. The majority also found that the plaintiffs could not prove racial bias and were not entitled to interim protections. Alito wrote, "The Court assumes for the sake of argument that heightened scrutiny applies and that it must determine whether a 'discriminatory purpose [was] a motivating factor in the decision' to terminate Haiti's TPS designation... None of the cited statements by either the President or the Secretary was overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications."
Impact on TPS Holders
There are approximately 1.3 million TPS holders living in the United States. At least 363,000 Haitian TPS holders and 7,000 Syrian TPS holders are directly affected by this ruling. The Trump administration had argued that there is no judicial review of a secretary's TPS decision and urged the justices to dismiss the claims. Last October, the Supreme Court allowed the termination of TPS for Venezuela, stripping protections from at least 300,000 Venezuelans lawfully in the U.S.
This is a developing story. Further updates will be provided as they become available.
