Supreme Court Lets Trump End TPS for Haitians, Syrians
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians and thousands of Syrians, ruling 6-3 in a pair of immigration cases.
The decisions, issued June 25, also revived the government's power to turn away asylum seekers who reach U.S.-Mexico ports of entry but have not stepped onto American soil. Together, the rulings hand the administration broad authority over immigration while narrowing the courts' role in reviewing it.
In the first case, Mullin v. Doe — consolidated with Trump v. Miot — the majority held that a provision of the TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional challenges to a status termination, according to the American Immigration Council. The Court did not rule on whether the Department of Homeland Security followed the procedures Congress required before ending the designations.
What the TPS ruling decided
Temporary Protected Status was created by Congress in the Immigration Act of 1990, shielding foreign nationals from deportation when conditions at home make return unsafe. Haiti was first designated in 2010 after a deadly earthquake; Syria has held the status since 2012, following the start of its civil war.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority. "The TPS statute plainly bars consideration of respondents' non-constitutional claims," he wrote, holding that the word "determination" in the law shields both individual decisions and the broader process from review. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined the opinion, the National Constitution Center reported.
The majority also rejected a claim from Haitian plaintiffs that statements by President Donald Trump and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reflected unconstitutional racial animus. None of the cited statements "was overtly racial," Alito wrote. Thomas added in a concurrence that the equal-protection claim failed because, in his view, "aliens have no equal protection rights against the Federal Government."
Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, arguing that DHS secretaries had repeatedly found conditions too dangerous to permit safe return to Haiti and Syria. For recipients facing the loss of work permits, the road ahead echoes hurdles many lawful residents already navigate, such as how long a green card renewal takes.
How many people are affected
About 350,000 Haitians hold TPS. Reports differ on the number of Syrian recipients: Al Jazeera and the National Constitution Center put it at about 6,000, while the American Immigration Council cites roughly 4,000. The program overall covers about 1.3 million people from 17 countries, according to PBS NewsHour.
Once the decision takes effect, recipients who hold no other lawful status revert to being deportable. "Ending these protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and thousands of Syrians will tear families apart," said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, warned the ruling reaches further than two countries. "The Court said that questions of whether the DHS secretary followed the law cannot be heard by courts in the first place," he wrote, adding that future terminations could be "entirely insulated from judicial review."
The border asylum case
In the second case, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Court endorsed a "metering" practice that lets border officers turn away people who present themselves at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border without stepping onto U.S. soil. Alito wrote that an immigrant "arrives in the United States only when he crosses the border," drawing a distinction between "arrives in" and "arrives at."
The decision overturned a 9th Circuit ruling that officers must inspect anyone who presents at a port of entry. White House adviser Stephen Miller said afterward that "America's doors are closed fully to asylum seekers," drawing warnings from advocates. The ruling follows other expansions of executive removal power, including a decision easing border authority over green card holders and an appeals court ruling permitting expanded fast-track deportations.
Because the Supreme Court is the nation's highest appellate court, advocates said little recourse remains through the judiciary and have urged Congress to act. In April, the House passed an extension of TPS for Haitians through 2029; the Senate has not taken it up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Temporary Protected Status?
TPS is a designation created by the Immigration Act of 1990 that lets the Department of Homeland Security grant temporary deportation protection and work authorization to nationals of countries facing armed conflict, disaster or other extraordinary conditions.
Did the Supreme Court rule on whether DHS followed the law?
No. The majority held that non-constitutional challenges to a TPS termination cannot be reviewed by courts at all, so it did not decide whether DHS followed the procedures Congress required.
How many people could lose protected status?
About 350,000 Haitians are affected, along with the Syrian recipients. Reports differ on the Syrian count, ranging from about 4,000 to 6,000. The wider TPS program covers roughly 1.3 million people from 17 countries.
What did the border ruling change?
The Court held that an asylum seeker has not "arrived in" the United States until physically crossing the border, allowing officials to turn people away at ports of entry before they step onto U.S. soil.
Sources
Reporting compiled from court records and the cited source outlets.