Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to Proceed With Rollback of Deportation Protections for Venezuelans

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for potentially hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals, marking a major shift in U.S. immigration policy.

In a brief and unsigned order, the court declined to block the administration’s decision, allowing efforts to dismantle the humanitarian protection to proceed. Immigration advocates say the move will place many Venezuelan migrants at risk of deportation.

The decision was sharply criticized by immigrant rights groups. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director 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.”

The ruling, however, stopped short of addressing whether the administration could rescind work authorizations and other benefits granted under the TPS program, particularly those extended during President Biden’s tenure. The ambiguity leaves many questions unanswered about how the decision will impact the roughly 300,000 Venezuelans currently under TPS, and an additional 250,000 set to lose protections in September.

The case now heads to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will review the legality of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s actions to revoke TPS. Opponents argue the rollback violated federal administrative law and was motivated by political and racial bias.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only member of the court to publicly note her dissent.

TPS was initially granted to Venezuelans in March 2021 under the Biden administration due to escalating political and economic instability. The protections were extended again in 2023, just weeks before Biden left office. Monday’s Supreme Court ruling pertains specifically to that 2023 extension.

Attorneys involved in the case criticized the high court’s decision for its lack of clarity. “The Supreme Court didn’t explain why it issued the order,” said Jessica Bansal, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. Arulanantham echoed the sentiment, describing the two-paragraph ruling as “impossible to understand.”

Earlier this year, Secretary Noem moved to terminate TPS for Venezuelans, with deportation protections set to end in April for hundreds of thousands. A separate group of about 250,000 Venezuelans who arrived before 2023 are also scheduled to lose their status in the coming months.

In March, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen temporarily blocked the administration’s move, citing Venezuela’s dire conditions — including civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, and arbitrary enforcement of laws — as reason enough to uphold the protections.

The TPS program, established by Congress in 1990, is intended to shield migrants from deportation if returning to their home countries would pose significant dangers due to war, natural disaster, or humanitarian crises.

At the close of Trump’s previous term, the administration acknowledged Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and offered a separate, more limited form of relief. This latest court ruling represents a significant policy reversal.