SCOTUS on Thursday let the Trump administration strip Temporary Protected Status from about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians in the United States. The ruling clears the way for the government to move ahead with ending protections that have kept those people in legal status and able to work under TPS.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the 6-3 majority that the law “expressly restricts” courts from reviewing determinations by the Department of Homeland Security on whether to terminate or extend TPS. Alito also rejected the claim that the Haiti decision was discriminatory, saying the statements cited by plaintiffs were “insufficient to show that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was based on the race of the Haitian people.”
Samuel Alito and DHS
The decision gives the Trump administration a clear path to carry out Kristi Noem’s termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that Noem’s decisions on revoking TPS designations are not reviewable in court, and Alito’s opinion accepted that reading of the statute.
TPS has existed since 1990 and is meant for people from countries facing war, natural disasters or other catastrophes. Recipients have legal status in the United States and can apply for work authorization for up to 18 months, subject to extensions; once that protection ends, affected people can face deportation through the normal legal process.
Haiti and Syria travel warnings
The administration said Haiti and Syria no longer met the conditions for legal status because conditions in both countries had improved. That sits alongside the State Department’s current advice that Americans should not travel to Haiti or Syria, with Haiti under a State of Emergency since March 2024 and the State Department warning that crimes involving firearms in Haiti include robbery, carjackings, sexual assault and kidnappings for ransom. The State Department also says no part of Syria is safe from violence.
In Haiti’s case, a group of TPS holders argued that Noem’s decision was not based on a serious assessment that Haiti is now safe for return. A Washington-based judge agreed in February that Noem had failed to follow the correct procedures and said there was evidence of anti-black and anti-Haitian animus, pointing to a December post on X in which Noem said, referring to immigrants in general, “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”
The Supreme Court had already allowed the Trump administration in two separate decisions last year to revoke the same kind of legal status from 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States. Affected Haitians and Syrians can still seek other avenues for remaining in the United States, including asylum, but the ruling removes one of the main forms of protection while the administration pushes ahead with its plan.
