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The nation's top court on the last weekday permitted the executive branch under Trump to eliminate TPS benefits from over 300k Venezuelan migrants.

Court's Urgent Ruling

The court members delivered an temporary measure, which will stay active throughout the litigation are ongoing, putting on hold a lower-court ruling that had blocked the government from terminating temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelan nationals.

The progressive judges opposed the decision.

Broader Immigration Policy

The Trump government has sought to revoke various protections that allow immigrants to remain in the US and work legally, including ending TPS for a aggregate 600,000 Venezuelans and Haitian migrants who were given legal status during the presidency of Joe Biden.

TPS is awarded for periods of 18 months.

Prior Supreme Court Ruling

In May, the high court overturned a interim ruling that concerned a further 350,000 Venezuelans whose TPS benefits ended last spring.

The supreme court provided no explanation at the time, which is standard in interim applications.

“The identical outcome that we reached in May is suitable here,” the court stated in an unattributed ruling.

Consequences for Venezuelans

Some protected individuals have lost their jobs and homes while some have been detained and expelled after the judges stepped in the initial instance, lawyers for the migrants informed the justices.

Judicial Dissent

“I regard today’s decision as yet another serious abuse of our interim proceedings,” one justice wrote. “Because, with all due respect, I cannot tolerate our frequent, unnecessary and damaging interference with active legal proceedings while individuals face grave consequences, I oppose.”

History of Protected Status

Congress introduced TPS in 1990 to stop expulsions to states experiencing environmental catastrophes, unrest or additional hazardous situations.

The designation can be awarded by the top immigration official.

Earlier Judicial Determination

The presiding justice ruled that the federal department acted “with extraordinary speed and in an unprecedented manner … for the preordained purpose of speeding up the end of Venezuela’s TPS designation.”

In prior dismissing the administration's interim application, another judge wrote for a unanimous three-judge appellate panel that the trial court had found that DHS made its “rulings beforehand and looked for justification for those decisions second”.

Courtroom Debate

The solicitor general had asserted in the latest legal submission that the justices’ May order should also apply to the current case.

“This case is well-known to the court and involves the growing trend and unacceptable situation of trial courts disregarding this court’s rulings on the emergency docket,” the lawyer wrote.

The outcome, he said, is that the “new order, identical to the old one, blocked the vacatur and termination of TPS affecting in excess of 300,000 aliens based on baseless claims”.