Supreme Court Greenlights Trump to End TPS for 350,000 Venezuelans

The ruling represents a significant shift in US immigration policy, allowing the administration to proceed with plans to eliminate Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans before the previously scheduled deadline.

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration's decision to end deportation protections for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans residing in the United States. This decision lifts a hold imposed by a California judge that had maintained Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans whose protections were due to expire last month. TPS is granted to individuals from countries facing unsafe conditions, enabling them to live and work legally in the US.

This ruling marks a significant victory for President Trump, who has sought to influence immigration policy through the Supreme Court. The administration aimed to terminate TPS and work permits for Venezuelan migrants by April 2025, a move that comes almost a year ahead of the original expiration date set for October 2026.

US government lawyers contended that the federal court in California undermined the Executive Branch’s constitutional powers concerning immigration and foreign relations when it blocked the administration's efforts to cancel protections and permits in April. Ahilan Arulanantham, an attorney representing TPS holders, characterized the Supreme Court’s decision as "the largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern US history." He expressed disbelief that the Court authorized such a measure through a terse two-paragraph order without an accompanying rationale. The consequences of this ruling, he warned, would have immediate and long-lasting humanitarian and economic repercussions.

Due to the emergency nature of the appeal, the justices did not elaborate on the reasoning behind their ruling, noting only a dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. In a related development, the Trump administration is also poised to withdraw TPS protections for tens of thousands of Haitians in August.

This recent Supreme Court ruling continues a trend of significant immigration policy decisions made under the Trump administration, underpinning the contentious legal battles surrounding these issues. Last week, the administration requested the Court’s support to end humanitarian parole for a vast number of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. However, the administration faced a setback when the Court prohibited Trump from leveraging the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants in northern Texas, raising questions about the legality of his strategies.