Supreme Court Gives Trump Admin Key Immigration Victory…
The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for roughly 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, ruling 8-1 in the administration’s favor.
The decision lifts a lower court injunction that had blocked the Department of Homeland Security from revoking the Biden-era protections. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter in the ruling.
What the Decision Allows
The ruling enables the Trump administration to proceed with plans to end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuelan nationals currently living in the United States. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a memo in February terminating the designation, with an effective date set for April.
U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued before the court that the lower court had exceeded its authority. “The district court’s reasoning is untenable,” Sauer said, contending that immigration policy involves “particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch.”
Background on the TPS Designations
Venezuela received its initial TPS designation in March 2021 under then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who determined that extraordinary conditions prevented safe returns. The designation was extended multiple times, most recently in January 2025 by Mayorkas before Noem took office.
Noem’s revocation memo stated that conditions in Venezuela no longer justified the temporary status. “It has been determined that it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States,” the memo said.
The Lower Court Challenge
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California had halted Noem’s plan in March, stating that characterizations of the migrants as potential criminals were “baseless and smacks of racism.” Chen’s injunction prevented the administration from immediately removing the protected migrants.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturned that injunction, allowing enforcement of the revocation to proceed.
Related Immigration Developments
Separately, the Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to reinstate a Florida law that would have criminalized entering the state after illegally entering the United States. The order offered no explanation and included no dissenting opinions.
The Florida law, known as SB 4-C, faced legal challenges after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, issued an indefinite injunction against it. The court found the law likely conflicted with federal immigration authority and raised constitutional concerns.
This story has been updated. CNN’s legal team contributed to this report.