The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration permission to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals, allowing the administration to proceed with removing legal protections granted under the prior administration. The emergency order came without a detailed explanation from the majority, but drew a public dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who objected to lifting the block imposed by a lower court.
The TPS program had shielded hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans from deportation due to the humanitarian crisis and political instability in their home country. In January, the Trump administration announced plans to revoke those protections, arguing that conditions in Venezuela no longer justified the designation and accusing the previous administration of using TPS to sidestep broader immigration policy.
After a federal district judge in San Francisco halted the revocation effort finding that the move appeared to rely on harmful stereotypes the Justice Department appealed directly to the Supreme Court. The emergency request was part of a growing list of such appeals by the Trump administration, which has faced legal challenges to its immigration policies in district courts across the country.
Justice Jackson, appointed by former President Biden, was the only member of the Court to publicly oppose the decision. She did not issue a written opinion but registered her dissent to the order lifting the lower court’s block.
This ruling marks another legal win for the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, although it follows a rare defeat just days earlier when the Court refused to allow the rapid deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang ties.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the administration had formally rescinded the TPS designation made by her predecessor, accusing the Biden administration of “tying our hands” and claiming it had abused TPS as a political tool.
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