The Supreme Court delivered a key victory to President Trump Monday on immigration policy, allowing him to move forward with canceling a special deportation amnesty for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants.
The high court’s order means he can move forward — for now — with revocation of the Biden-era decision to grant Temporary Protected Status to Venezuela. A district judge had ruled against Mr. Trump, but the justices issued a stay of that decision, meaning the president is now free to move forward even as the case percolates in lower courts.
The brief two-paragraph order was unsigned. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted her dissent from the ruling.
The case goes to the core of presidential powers on immigration, with Solicitor General D. John Sauer arguing lower courts have been meddling in critical Executive Branch authority.
“That is a classic case of judicial arrogation of core Executive Branch prerogatives and alone warrants correction,” Mr. Sauer told the justices in asking them to get involved.
Monday’s ruling doesn’t reach the merits of the argument, but its effects are still massive.
“This is the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, one of the lawyers for the Venezuelans who challenged the Trump rollback. “The humanitarian and economic impact of the court’s decision will be felt immediately and will reverberate for generations.”
TPS is granted to countries that have faced natural disasters, war, pandemic or political instability. The theory is that the nations need space to recover, and their citizens shouldn’t be required to go back amid tough times.
Those granted TPS get a quasi-legal status that includes a stay of deportation and work permits to compete for jobs.
TPS is supposed to end once a country has recovered, but in practice, it’s become a permanent immigration status for many. Hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants have been living under TPS since the turn of the century.
President Biden was particularly prolific with his use of TPS, expanding it from about 300,000 people protected in early 2021 to nearly 1.1 million people as of last December.
During his first term, Mr. Trump moved to reel in the program but met resistance in the courts. He has renewed those efforts this time, and Venezuela is the first big test.
The Biden administration first granted TPS to Venezuela in 2021. It renewed and extended it several times, including once just before handing over power to the Trump team, in an effort to lock the policy in for more than a year of the Trump administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem then moved to revoke the grant, asserting that some of those being protected were members of Tren de Aragua, a notorious gang the U.S. has now declared a terrorist organization.
While past administrations, including the first Trump one, have allowed TPS to expire, Ms. Noem is the first to revoke a grant before the stated date.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, an Obama appointee who sits on the bench in Northern California, had ruled against Mr. Trump and Ms. Noem, finding that she had failed to offer a good enough justification for revoking Venezuela’s status.
Judge Chen also said the decision was fueled by “animus” against Venezuelans, based on criticism levied by Mr. Trump and Ms. Noem against Tren de Aragua.
Monday’s ruling doesn’t give details, but experts said it was a signal that the high court disagreed with Judge Chen’s reasoning.
Dale Wilcox, executive director of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, which had filed briefs backing Mr. Trump, said the court was affirming the president’s powers on immigration.
“Because the President has this power, and the secretary was acting as his agent, plaintiffs’ claims must fail. We are pleased the Court refused to rule to the detriment of this vital presidential authority, and granted the stay,” Mr. Wilcox said.
But activists said the court’s ruling will upend life for migrants who have put down roots and contribute to the economy. They also doubted the Venezuelans will leave.
“Ending these protections will tear families apart, destabilize our communities, and force people back into the shadows,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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