US Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to End Protected Status for 350,000 Venezuelans
The United States Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration’s request to lift a lower court suspension, allowing the government to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans living in the US, as per Al Jazeera.
The brief order did not provide detailed reasoning, though it noted that liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the request. The decision enables the administration to proceed with ending TPS protections that had been blocked since March.
TPS is a federal program that shields eligible noncitizens from deportation and allows work authorization when their home countries are deemed unsafe to return to. Venezuela was designated for TPS in 2023 under the Biden administration due to political repression and a worsening humanitarian crisis exacerbated by US sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
In February, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem terminated the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuelans, labeling it “contrary to the national interest” and citing concerns over gang membership and impacts on US workers. However, she maintained an earlier TPS designation for Venezuelans.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling, accusing the previous administration of granting TPS status to “gang members” and “known terrorists and murderers,” and said the move would restore integrity to the US immigration system.
The Trump administration has argued that TPS designations are not subject to judicial review, a point implicitly supported by the Supreme Court’s order.
Democrats criticized the administration’s decision, describing it as a harsh crackdown that endangers vulnerable Venezuelans fleeing extreme oppression, arbitrary detentions, and severe shortages of essential services.
