Supreme Court Greenlights Trump Administration to End TPS for Venezuelans
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – In a pivotal decision Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower court injunction that had blocked President Donald Trump’s move to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 300,000 Venezuelan migrants. The unsigned two-paragraph order represents a major victory for the administration as it aggressively pursues its hard-line immigration enforcement agenda.
The court’s decision clears the way for the Trump administration to begin terminating protections extended under President Joe Biden, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to proceed with immediate removals. The ruling comes as the administration targets Biden-era policies for rollback, especially those affecting large groups of migrants given special status.
U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer, in an emergency appeal, called the lower court ruling “untenable” and accused the judge of overstepping authority. “The program implicates particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch regarding immigration policy,” Sauer argued. He said blocking the administration from ending TPS was “a classic case of judicial arrogation of core Executive Branch prerogatives and alone warrants correction.”
TPS provides temporary legal status and work authorization to individuals from countries suffering armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. Venezuela was granted TPS in 2021 under President Biden and was renewed several times. However, in February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem abruptly terminated protections for a group of Venezuelans, citing national security concerns, including alleged gang affiliations with Tren de Aragua–a group the U.S. recently labeled a terrorist organization.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen had ruled in March to keep TPS in place, siding with the National TPS Alliance. He called the termination “unprecedented” and suggested it may have been “predicated on negative stereotypes.” Sauer rejected that claim, saying such descriptions were “cherry-picked” and “wrongly portrayed” as racially motivated. “Forceful condemnations of gang violence and broad questioning of the integrity of the prior administration’s immigration practices, including potential abuses of the TPS program, do not evince discriminatory intent,” he said.
The humanitarian fallout is expected to be significant. “This is the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, an attorney representing Venezuelan plaintiffs. “The humanitarian and economic impact of the court’s decision will be felt immediately and will reverberate for generations.”
While the Court’s ruling does not resolve the case on its merits, it allows removals to begin. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted her dissent. Critics warn the decision could destabilize families and communities. “Ending these protections will tear families apart, destabilize our communities, and force people back into the shadows,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Dale Wilcox of the Immigration Reform Law Institute defended the Court’s decision. “Because the President has this power, and the secretary was acting as his agent, plaintiffs’ claims must fail. We are pleased the Court refused to rule to the detriment of this vital presidential authority, and granted the stay,” Wilcox said.
The ruling marks Venezuela as the first major TPS revocation under the Trump administration’s second term, and signals a broader effort to rein in what it sees as an abused immigration program.
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