Washington DC [US], May 20: The U.S. Supreme Court let Donald Trump's administration on Monday strip temporary protected status from Venezuelans living in the United States that had been granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, as the Republican president moves to ramp up deportations as part of his hardline approach to immigration.
The court granted the Justice Department's request to lift San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Edward Chen's order that had halted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision to terminate the deportation protection conferred to Venezuelans under the temporary protected status, or TPS, program.
The court's brief order was unsigned, as is typical when the justices act on an emergency request.
The court, however, left open the door to any challenges by migrants if the administration seeks to invalidate work permits or other TPS-related documents that were issued to expire in October 2026, which is the end of the TPS period extended by Biden. The Department of Homeland Security has said about 348,202 Venezuelans were registered under Biden's 2023 TPS designation.
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole member of the court to publicly dissent from the decision.
The action came in a legal challenge by plaintiffs including some of the TPS recipients and the National TPS Alliance advocacy group, who said Venezuela remains an unsafe country.
Trump, who returned to the presidency in January, has pledged to deport record numbers of migrants in the United States illegally and has taken actions to strip certain migrants of temporary legal protections, expanding the pool of possible deportees.
The TPS program is a humanitarian designation under U.S. law for countries stricken by war, natural disaster or other catastrophe, giving recipients living in the United States deportation protection and access to work permits. The designation can be renewed by the U.S. homeland security secretary.
The U.S. government under Biden, a Democrat, twice designated Venezuela for TPS, in 2021 and 2023. In January, days before Trump returned to office, the Biden administration announced an extension of the programs to October 2026.
Noem, a Trump appointee, rescinded the extension and moved to end the TPS designation for a subset of Venezuelans who benefited from the 2023 designation.
Chen ruled that Noem violated a federal law that governs the actions of agencies. The judge also said the revocation of the TPS status appeared to have been predicated on "negative stereotypes" by insinuating the Venezuelan migrants were criminals.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 18 declined the administration's request to pause the judge's order.
Justice Department lawyers in their Supreme Court filing said Chen had "wrested control of the nation's immigration policy" away from the government's executive branch, headed by Trump.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
