Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow end of deportation protections for Venezuelans

Washington — The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to freeze a lower court’s order and allow the government to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S.

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to allow the government to revoke the protections, known as temporary protected status, while a legal battle plays out in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and in any further proceedings before the Supreme Court. 

Earlier this month, Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the administration’s move to end TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians in the U.S. was unlawful. The 9th Circuit has declined to stay the lower court’s decision. 

In May, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the TPS program for Venezuelans, but that ruling only concerned a preliminary order from Chen, who decided the full merits of the case this month.

Roughly 300,000 Venezuelans are in the U.S. through the program, which is intended for nationals of countries where it’s too dangerous to return because of war, natural disasters or other emergencies. The Trump administration encouraged Venezuelans to self-deport when the administration announced it was ending the TPS designation for them. The administration has argued that temporary protected status was never meant to allow migrants to remain in the U.S. indefinitely.

Although the district judge also ruled against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempt to end TPS for Haitian citizens, the administration is only asking the Supreme Court to intervene when it comes to Venezuelans who are affected. The case’s main plaintiff is the National TPS Alliance, led by TPS beneficiaries. 

The Trump administration has been looking to end temporary protected status for people from multiple countries. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was ending deportation protections for thousands of Syrians living in the U.S.