U.S. Supreme Court greenlights end to deportation protections for Venezuelans
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to proceed with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants, a form of humanitarian relief that shields recipients from deportation, the CNN reported.
The unsigned, two-paragraph order did not explain the court’s reasoning and left the fate of work permits and benefits issued under a 2024 extension by the Biden administration unclear. The decision drew criticism from immigrant rights advocates.
Ahilan Arulanantham of UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy called it “the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history.” Jessica Bansal, an attorney for the plaintiffs, described the order’s impact as “impossible to understand.”
The case now returns to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further review of the Trump administration’s original decision to revoke TPS. In early 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate TPS protections, affecting over 300,000 Venezuelans. Another 250,000 migrants who arrived before 2023 face loss of status in September.
TPS, created by Congress in 1990, protects individuals from countries facing crises. Venezuela has been cited as experiencing severe political, economic, and security challenges.
