The Supreme Court ruled on Monday to allow the Trump administration to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans, a decision that overrules a lower court’s block and comes after strong dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In January, the Trump administration announced plans to end TPS for Venezuelans. This status has kept them protected from deportation due to dangerous conditions in Venezuela, including political instability and widespread violence. The Biden administration had given TPS to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, but now, with this new ruling, those protections are at risk.
The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court after a judge in San Francisco paused the move, saying it seemed based on “negative stereotypes” of Venezuelans. The judge argued the decision lacked proper justification and could harm innocent people. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only one to publicly disagree with the decision to lift the block, but neither she nor the majority provided an explanation for their positions.
This ruling is another win for the Trump administration, which has had several emergency appeals taken up by the Supreme Court after district judges blocked its policies. But just days before, the Court had ruled against the administration in a separate case, blocking efforts to quickly deport a group of Venezuelan migrants the government labeled as gang members.
In a statement about the ruling, Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem said she “vacated” the TPS designation set by the Biden administration, claiming it was time to end the protections. She argued that past secretaries from both parties had ended TPS when they felt conditions in the home country no longer warranted it.
“The Secretary has the authority to terminate TPS when conditions change, and that is what Secretary Noem did,” wrote Solicitor General D. John Sauer in a letter to the Supreme Court.
But the National TPS Alliance sued, arguing that Noem did not have the power to undo TPS protections without proper review. They said the decision should have gone through a formal process, which includes evaluating conditions in Venezuela and notifying those affected.
“The government’s position would give the Secretary unchecked power,” the alliance’s lawyers wrote. “They could designate countries for TPS for years or use it to push political agendas. The Court should not let that happen.”
While this case directly affects around 300,000 Venezuelans whose protections were set to end in April, it also impacts another 300,000 whose status is set to expire in September. The legal fight is far from over. A lower court had already blocked Noem’s decision, with U.S. District Judge Edward Chen saying the move was “racist” and based on harmful stereotypes. He criticized Noem’s repeated comments suggesting that Venezuelans were criminals or gang members, calling such generalizations “baseless.”
Venezuela, under President Nicolás Maduro, has faced a severe crisis, including food shortages and an ongoing exodus of people fleeing the country. Despite Noem’s claim that the situation no longer warrants protections, Venezuelans still face extreme hardships.
The administration appealed after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift the lower court’s order. The case will return to the lower courts, with Judge Chen setting a hearing for July 11 to consider the administration’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. The 9th Circuit has not yet issued a final ruling on the appeal.
