The Supreme Court on Monday sided with the Trump administration in a dispute over immigration, allowing it to revoke temporary humanitarian protections for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the United States and delivering a win for President Donald Trump.
The decision lifts a lower court block that had prevented Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from rescinding temporary protected status, or TPS, a designation that shields nationals from countries facing armed conflict or disasters.
Noem reversed an 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuelans issued in former President Joe Biden’s final days, citing strains on city resources and national security risks, including alleged links between some migrants and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. In response, the National TPS Alliance sued in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of California.
“The setback in the Supreme Court today will not deter us. The Trump administration will not stop us,” said Jose Palma, coordinator for the National TPS Alliance.
TPS for Venezuelans was first granted in 2021 under Biden, who extended it twice due to worsening conditions under the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Advocates argued that revoking protections now violates federal law and was fueled by racial bias.
During a February Fox News interview, Noem referred to some Venezuelans as “dirtbags,” which U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cited in a March ruling as evidence of unlawful animus.
Chen, an Obama appointee, initially blocked the revocation of TPS. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld that ruling, prompting the Trump administration to seek emergency relief from the high court.
The Supreme Court’s order indicated that its action is temporary, noting that the lower court’s decision is paused pending the “disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought. Judge Chen on Monday ordered both parties to meet and file a joint status report by May 26, and plan to discuss the status report at a May 29 hearing.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, said she would outright deny the administration’s application, according to the bottom of the order.
But in its successful petition, the administration argued the judiciary had overstepped its authority into foreign policy and public safety matters reserved for the executive. The Supreme Court agreed, allowing the rescission of TPS to proceed while litigation continues.
The TPS rollback will affect hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who had been granted TPS in 2023.
Although the lawsuit at issue was amended in mid-March to incorporate 500,000 TPS holders from Haiti whose status expires Aug. 3, the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday does not affect them, nor does it affect approximately 250,000 Venezuelan migrants who were granted TPS in 2021, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Immigrant advocates have claimed rolling back TPS could disrupt families and local economies, while the administration says it would restore proper legal boundaries. Without the extension, TPS protections were set to end for some Venezuelans as early as April and for others in September.
DHS ASKS SUPREME COURT TO ALLOW REVOCATION OF VENEZUELAN IMMIGRANTS’ PROTECTED STATUS
The Supreme Court is also toiling over a separate Biden-era action that concerns the removal of approximately 532,000 migrants from four separate countries who were given mass parole during his administration. Those nations include Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela.
Noem revoked the controversial program in March, and a lower court judge has blocked the Trump administration’s move, leading the administration to appeal to the justices earlier this month.
