SCOTUS Grants Trump Temporary Permission to Suspend TPS

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently permitted President Donald Trump to temporarily rescind the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Venezuelan immigrants.

In an 8-1 ruling, SCOTUS halted a San Francisco court order prohibiting the federal government from suspending TPS status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants.

While SCOTUS’ decision is not definitive, it enables the Trump administration to suspend TPS for Venezuelans until the legality of such suspension is determined.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas granted TPS status to Venezuelans entering the US during President Joe Biden’s administration.

Shortly after entering office, President Trump suspended Venezuelans’ TPS status because Secretary Mayorkas’ TPS policy for Venezuela suffered numerous “deficiencies and lack of clarity.”

The Trump administration argues derogating Mayorkas’ TPS status for Venezuelans will enable the federal government to manage TPS programs effectively and in a more orderly manner.

According to the Trump administration, rescinding TPS for Venezuelans ”is warranted to untangle the confusion, and provide an opportunity for informed determinations regarding the TPS designations and clear guidance.”

Some lawmakers, however, have criticized the suspension of TPS for Venezuelans by claiming that Venezuelans in the US relied on TPS to safely flee Venezuela’s repressive government.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) classified SCOTUS’ decision as “atrocious.”

“Venezuelan TPS holders fled the Maduro regime and built lives in America,” said Representative Schultz. “This atrocious decision allows Trump to deport non-criminals back to a murderous dictator.”

Similarly, Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost condemned SCOTUS’ decision for harming “innocent people who have lawfully built lives here under TPS.”

Granting TPS has been historically considered to be a prerogative of the Executive Branch to grant temporary relief to migrants fleeing unsafe conditions.

TPS was used by the executive branch to allow select migrant groups temporary entry to the US, but groups enjoying TPS status never surpassed the tens of thousands.

However, the Biden administration unprecedentedly enlarged TPS status to cover hundreds of thousands of immigrants.