Supreme Court Allows End of TPS for Haiti and Syria

The Supreme Court on Thursday voted 6-3 to permit the Department of Homeland Security to end temporary protected status (TPS) for nationals of Haiti and Syria, overturning lower-court orders that had kept the protections in place. The decision removes legal safeguards for roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, adding to the 1.3 million people covered by TPS from 17 countries.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the statute creating TPS “keeps courts out of the process” and that the Secretary’s designation decisions are not subject to judicial review. The court’s liberal justices dissented, arguing that judges may intervene when officials bypass procedural requirements and noting that statements from the administration contained racial overtones.

James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, praised the ruling, saying the program had become “de facto amnesty” and that the decision supports “the rule of law and common sense.”

Immigration attorneys and advocacy groups warned that the termination could expose migrants to danger, citing recent reports of Haitian deportees being killed after return. They urged Congress to act on a bipartisan bill that would extend deportation protections for Haitians, which has stalled in the Senate.

The decision follows a broader effort by the Trump administration, now back in office, to end TPS designations that were originally granted in response to natural disasters and armed conflict, including protections first extended to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake and to Syrians during the civil war that began in 2012.