Skip to main content

Error message

An error occurred while searching, try again later.
Donate to the 95 years appeal
US government asks Supreme Court to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants
President Donald Trump gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

THE TRUMP administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.

The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.

The status allows people already in the US to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.

A federal appeals court had earlier rejected the administration’s request.

President Donald Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. TPS is granted in 18-month increments.

The emergency appeal to the high court came the same day a federal judge in Texas ruled that the administration’s efforts to deport Venezuelans under an 18th century wartime law was illegal. The cases are not related.

The protections had been set to expire on April 7, but US District Judge Edward Chen ordered a pause on those plans. He found that the expiration threatened to severely disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and could cost billions in lost economic activity.

Mr Chen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic president Barack Obama, found that the government hadn’t shown any harm caused by keeping the programme alive.

But Solicitor General D John Sauer wrote on behalf of the administration that Mr Chen’s order impermissibly interferes with the administration’s power over immigration and foreign affairs.

In addition, Mr Sauer told the justices, people affected by ending the protected status might have other legal options to try to remain in the country because the “decision to terminate TPS is not equivalent to a final removal order.”

Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib attends the inauguration ceremony of the 6th term of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Iran, May 21, 2024
Iran / 9 June 2025
9 June 2025
An explosion is seen after a Russian air strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, June 6, 2025
Russia-Ukraine / 6 June 2025
6 June 2025
People and rescuers gather at the scene following a Russian strike on Sumy, Ukraine, June 3, 2025
Russia-Ukraine / 3 June 2025
3 June 2025