Supreme Court will rule on Trump’s plan to end temporary protection for Haitians, Syrians
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court agreed Monday to rule on whether the Trump administration will end temporary protections that have historically been granted to immigrants living and working in the United States.
At stake is legal protection for approximately 6,000 Syrians and some 350,000 Haitians.
The court’s announcement signals that the judges want to resolve this issue through written opinions rather than urgent applications.
Twice last year, the court’s conservatives reversed rulings by judges in San Francisco who said President Trump had overstepped the authority of the Homeland Security Secretary.
These cases involved the expansion of temporary protected status to approximately 600,000 Venezuelans.
But those decisions did not set a clear precedent, and in recent weeks judges in New York and Washington, D.C., blocked the administration’s plan to end special protections for Haitians and Syrians.
Frustrated by what he called “indefensible” decisions, Trump’s attorney, Gen. D. John Sauer, recommended the court hear arguments and issue a written decision on the matter.
On Monday, the justices agreed to do just that. Arguments will be discussed in April and a decision will be made in July.
Immigrant rights advocates argued that removing special protections would be cruel and unfair to immigrants who have established lives and careers in this country.
In 1990, Congress authorized the provision of temporary housing to noncitizens from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disaster, or “extraordinary and temporary circumstances” that prevented them from returning there.
In 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security expanded this protection to Syrians in response to the “brutal crackdown” orchestrated by then-President Bashar Assad.
Last year, citing Assad’s fall from power, Trump’s Secretary Kristi Noem suggested revoking temporary protection for Syrians. Lawyers for Syrians questioned how this could be seen as an emergency requiring immediate decisions.
They said that 6,100 Syrians have been living here legally for years.
“These are highly sought-after doctors and medical professionals, reporters, students, teachers, business owners, caregivers, and others who have been repeatedly vetted and, by definition, have virtually no criminal history. The government apparently needs emergency authority to send them to a country in the middle of an active war,” the lawyers said.
In 2010, the Obama administration expanded protection to Haiti after the earthquake that caused death and damage in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Judges in New York and Washington blocked those cancellations and said the high court offered “no explanation” for its decision upholding the cancellation for Venezuelans.
These judges said that the Supreme Court’s previous decisions “involved the designation of a different country as a TPS with different factual circumstances and different reasons for decision by the district court.”
Sauer pointed to a provision in the 1990 law that says judges don’t have the authority to second-guess the government’s decision to end it.
“There is no judicial review of any decision” [Secretary] “With respect to the appointment of a foreign state or the termination or extension of an appointment pursuant to this subsection,” the law states.
In the three weeks since Trump’s lawyer filed the emergency objection, two significant changes have occurred since then.
Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The war he started against Iran also threatens all Middle Eastern countries, including Syria.
The justices agreed to hear both cases, leaving the lower court’s decisions blocking the annulments for now.
