Supreme Court expands immigration authority, ends TPS

A series of Supreme Court rulings this week has dramatically expanded the federal government's authority to enforce immigration laws, clearing the way for the termination of humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of people and for the potential revival of a policy that turns away asylum seekers at the border.

In two major 6-3 decisions issued on Thursday, June 25, the Court sided with the Trump administration on key aspects of its immigration agenda. The first ruling held that the Department of Homeland Security has broad, largely unreviewable discretion to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The decision directly affects approximately 350,000 Haitians and roughly 6,000 Syrians living and working legally in the United States under the program, which shields individuals from countries deemed unsafe due to conflict or disaster.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority, stated that federal law bars courts from second-guessing the executive branch's determinations on TPS. The administration had determined that conditions in Haiti and Syria had improved sufficiently, though the State Department maintains its highest-level travel warnings for...