Supreme Court backs Trump administration's moves to curb immigration protections

The U.S. Supreme Court issued three decisions on Thursday and Tuesday that expand the Trump administration's authority over immigration enforcement. A 6-3 conservative majority ruled that the government may terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians, a program that has allowed those nationals to live and work in the United States for more than a decade. The same majority also upheld a policy that permits border officials to physically block asylum seekers from entering U.S. territory at the Mexico border, and it granted officials broader discretion to detain lawful permanent residents who are alleged to have committed crimes of moral turpitude without requiring "clear and convincing evidence."

Advocacy groups warned that the TPS decision could affect roughly 350,000 Haitians and 4,000 Syrians who have fled conflict, disaster or persecution. "By trying to kill TPS, they are attacking people who are living and working here legally, paying fees and taxes, following all the rules," said José Palma, a coordinator at the National TPS Alliance. Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder of the Haitian Support Center and a TPS holder, described the ruling as "the saddest day of my life" for families dependent on the program.

The rulings come amid broader legal challenges to the administration's immigration policies, including a pending case on whether the president can restrict birthright citizenship for children of undocumented parents. Critics have characterized the court's approach as facilitating a more restrictive immigration framework that disproportionately impacts migrants of color.