Supreme Court Strips Deportation Protections for Haitians and Syrians in Sweeping 6-3 Ruling

A 6-3 decision that could end a 35-year-old program

The Supreme Court cleared the way on June 25 for the Trump administration to strip Temporary Protected Status from roughly 350,000 Haitian and 6,000 Syrian nationals living legally in the United Statesnbcnews. The 6-3 ruling in Mullin v. Doe, written by Justice Samuel Alito, held that federal law bars courts from reviewing DHS decisions to terminate TPS designations — effectively placing those choices beyond judicial checkscotusblog +1. All six conservative justices joined the majority; all three liberals dissented.

What the court decided and why

Alito's opinion turned on the text of the TPS statute, which he read as creating a sweeping judicial-review bar: "The language of the TPS statute prohibiting judicial review is clear, and its plain meaning is very broad."scotusblog The court also rejected the challengers' claim that former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended Haiti's designation because of racial animus — citing Trump's statements about Haitians as "heated language" but concluding none were "overtly racial."nbcnews

Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, sharply disagreed. "The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the president's resolve to remove Haitians from this country," she wrotenbcnews. Kagan also argued the majority read the review bar too broadly, contending courts retain authority to examine whether the secretary followed required procedural steps before making any designation decisionscotusblog.

1.3 million people in legal limbo

Congress created TPS in 1990 to protect people from countries torn apart by war, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. The Trump administration has already terminated the program for 10 nations, affecting more than a million people; four remaining designations — Lebanon, El Salvador, Sudan, and Ukraine — expire later this yearnpr. "We may even end up by the end of this year without anybody who has temporary protected status," said Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institutenpr.

Those affected cannot simply apply for a green card — no direct pathway from TPS to permanent residency exists, and the State Department maintains Level 4 "do not travel" advisories for both Haiti and Syrianbcnews +1. The White House called the ruling "a tremendous win," arguing TPS "was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status."thehill But some Republicans dissented: Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said conditions in Haiti remain "extremely dangerous" and called for targeted legislative solutionsthehill.