Supreme Court ruling on Haitian, Syrian TPS may affect broader immigrant groups
9 reported2 unconfirmed
The Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for Haitian and Syrian immigrants may extend to people from many other countries, according to a report. The ruling directly applies to about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, but could be a sign of what is in store for nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries on Temporary Protected Status. The decision exposes TPS holders from Haiti and Syria to potential detention and deportation, and could pave the way for hundreds of thousands of other beneficiaries with pending asylum claims to be forced to leave the country. The Trump administration has argued that immigrants were poorly vetted after the Biden administration expanded the designation, and says countries are safe for return. The government has ended TPS for about 1 million people from 13 countries, including about 650,000 from Venezuela and 50,000 from Honduras, with decisions looming for about 200,000 Salvadorans and 100,000 Ukrainians. Immigration lawyers maintain that both Haiti and Syria are in crisis and that people cannot return safely, asserting the administration did not assess conditions or consult other agencies as required by law. The court’s 6-3 conservative majority agreed that DHS, not judges, had sole authority to end the protections.
What’s reported
The Supreme Court decision directly applies to about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.
Nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries are on Temporary Protected Status.
TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.
The Trump administration has ended TPS for about 1 million people from 13 countries, including about 650,000 from Venezuela and 50,000 from Honduras.
Decisions are looming for about 200,000 Salvadorans and 100,000 Ukrainians.
The court’s 6-3 conservative majority ruled that DHS, not judges, had sole authority to end protections.
Supreme Court decisions generally take effect 32 days after being announced, according to Emi MacLean of the ACLU of Northern California.
The case is being sent back to lower courts, with implementation not expected before July 27.
Haitians were first granted TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake; Syrians were first granted TPS in 2012 during a civil war.
Open questions
Whether conditions in Haiti and Syria have improved enough to allow safe return, as advocates claim they have not.
Whether the DHS secretary consulted other government agencies before ending TPS, as advocates assert was not done.
Key figures
President Donald Trump
Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Miñana Family Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA
Emi MacLean, senior attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Melissa Keenan, attorney representing Syrian TPS holders
Sources: abcnews.com
