Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court has begun hearing a case on whether the Trump administration may terminate the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians living in the country.
Wednesday's hearing at the nation's highest court specifically concerns the president's authority to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of the two countries, a designation granted when it is deemed unsafe for individuals to return to their home nations.
The court's eventual decision could have sweeping implications beyond the roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians currently under TPS. It could jeopardize the future of about 1.3 million people from 17 countries living in the US on the status, potentially rendering them undocumented amid the administration's mass deportation push.
Last year, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rescinded TPS for Haiti and Syria, claiming the status had been "abused and exploited" and that conditions in the countries had improved. Critics point to ongoing political, humanitarian, and security crises in Haiti and persistent instability in Syria, including Israeli incursions and sporadic violence.
Class-action lawsuits filed by Haitians and Syrians allege the department failed to follow proper procedures in terminating their status. The administration maintains that the law creating TPS does not allow judicial review of its decision.
The Haitian lawsuit further accuses the Trump regime of racial animus, citing Trump's racist tropes against Haitians during his 2024 campaign. In February, US District Judge Ana Reyes ruled the administration's actions were likely motivated by "racial animus" in violation of constitutional equal protection guarantees.
In a rare rebuke to Trump, the US House of Representatives passed a bill in April to extend TPS for Haitians through 2029, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats. The Senate has yet to vote.
Since Trump began his second term in January 2025, the DHS has moved to end TPS for Venezuela, Nepal, Nicaragua, Honduras, Afghanistan, Cameroon, South Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen, though most efforts have been stayed by lower courts.
In October, the Supreme Court allowed the cancellation of TPS for Venezuela to stand. Cecilia Gonzalez, a TPS recipient, stated that the ruling will decide "whether immigrant families who have followed the law can have their protections stripped away overnight for political purposes."
Source: www.aljazeera.com