The Trump administration has requested the Supreme Court to remove temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially putting them at risk of deportation.
The Justice Department has appealed to the high court to suspend a ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco that maintained Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans, which would have otherwise expired last month.
Temporary Protected Status allows individuals already in the United States to live and work legally due to unsafe conditions in their home countries caused by natural disasters or civil unrest.
An earlier request by the administration was rejected by a federal appeals court.
President Donald Trump’s administration has been actively working to eliminate various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. TPS is typically granted in 18-month increments.
The emergency appeal to the Supreme Court coincided with a federal judge in Texas ruling against the administration’s attempts to deport Venezuelans under an 18th-century wartime law, although the two cases are unrelated.
The protections were originally set to expire on April 7, but U.S. District Judge Edward Chen halted those plans, citing potential severe disruptions to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and significant economic losses.
In response, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued on behalf of the administration that Judge Chen’s order interferes with the government’s authority over immigration and foreign affairs.
Sauer also mentioned that individuals affected by the termination of protected status may have other legal avenues to pursue in order to remain in the country, as ending TPS does not equate to an immediate deportation order.
Temporary Protected Status was established by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries facing natural disasters or civil unrest.
Published – May 02, 2025 05:20 am IST
