The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for President Donald Trump’s administration to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants of humanitarian protection from deportation, with sweeping consequences for your practice if you represent TPS clients.
What changed
The justices in a 6-3 ruling overturned decisions by federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C., that had halted the administration’s actions terminating Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for more than 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,100 from Syria.
The core holding: the President can end the protected status of Haitians and Syrians without the possibility of judicial review. The court’s conservative majority ruled that the President has virtually unrestrained power to end the Temporary Protected Status program, and the statute itself bars courts from second-guessing the Secretary’s TPS termination determination in most cases.
At issue in the Haitian case was a finding by Washington-based U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes that the administration’s action likely was motivated in part by “racial animus,” violating the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. Reyes said it was likely that Noem preordained her termination decision “because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants.” The Supreme Court majority rejected this as a basis for judicial intervention.
Though the ruling centered on the TPS of Haitians and Syrians, the ruling effectively gives the Trump administration the green light to carry out similar terminations, which they have already done for 13 countries.
Why it matters
For practitioners representing TPS clients, this decision eliminates a critical litigation tool: federal court injunctions and stays halting TPS terminations. Migrants living legally in the U.S. from those countries will likely revert to illegal status, meaning they will lose their jobs and face deportation, with many of them forced to leave their American-born children behind.
The practical impact is immediate and severe:
- Loss of work authorization: TPS termination means immediate loss of employment authorization documents (EAD).
- Reversion to illegal status: Former TPS holders become deportable aliens with no statutory protection from removal.
- No stay of removal: Courts cannot issue injunctions delaying TPS terminations pending litigation.
- Precedent effect: There are 1.3 million immigrants from all 17 countries currently designated under TPS. The decision does not bind the Secretary’s hand on the other 15 countries not before the Court.
The dissent argued that the statute allows courts to review whether DHS followed required procedures (e.g., consultation with other agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act), but the majority left this narrower issue unresolved or rejected it outright for the Haitian case.
Way forward
- Audit your client roster: Identify all TPS-beneficiary clients and counsel them on the risk of immediate status loss, potential ICE enforcement, and employment termination.
- Document country conditions NOW: If you believe a TPS client may face persecution or torture upon return, begin gathering country conditions evidence immediately to support withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture claims—these remain viable under immigration law even if TPS is terminated.
- Understand termination timelines: When DHS formally terminates TPS for a country, there is typically a 60-90 day period before the status lapses. Use this window to prepare alternative relief petitions (asylum, special immigrant visa, U visa, T visa, VAWA, etc.) if applicable.
- Constitutional claims are foreclosed: Do not invest time in Fifth Amendment equal-protection arguments based on statements by Trump or DHS officials; the Supreme Court has now rejected this avenue for all practical purposes.
Disclaimer
This article is not legal advice and does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. We are a software company, not a law firm. Immigration law is complex and evolves rapidly. Verify all statements against the Supreme Court’s opinion and consult a licensed immigration attorney before making any filing decision or advising a client. Policy can change without notice, and this article reflects the law as of June 25, 2026. Access the Court’s full opinion via the source URL linked above.