High Court permits Trump to discard legal shields for half a million individuals, intensifying deportation risks
The Supreme Court took a step towards upping the potential number of deportable immigrants to nearly a million on Friday, suspending a lower court order that protected over half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
The brief order from the high court came a few weeks after it allowed the administration to strip legal protections from nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in another case, bringing the total exposed to deportation to close to a million. The court left its reasoning for the decision hidden, as they often do with emergency docket rulings.
Two justices publicly opposed the decision, with dissenting voices coming from Sotomayor and Brown Jackson.
Authorities filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court following a federal judge in Boston blocking the administration's effort to revoke the humanitarian parole program. The Justice Department believes that the temporary protections for those fleeing turmoil in their home countries were always meant to be temporary and can be revoked by the Department of Homeland Security without court interference.
A White House spokeswoman voiced support for the decision, stating, "We are confident in the legality of our actions to protect the American people and look forward to further action from the Supreme Court to vindicate us."
But opponents of the decision claim it would lead to "devastating" consequences for half a million people and their communities. Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, said, "The court has effectively greenlit deportation orders for a half-million people."
During his presidency, Donald Trump was adamant about deporting millions of people and worked to dismantle Biden administration policies aimed at offering migrants legal paths to reside in the U.S. In a 2024 presidential debate, Trump shared false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio, with legal protections under the humanitarian parole program, were engaging in disturbing activities such as abducting and eating pets.[1]
The court's order does not signify a final ruling but means the protections are no longer in effect while the case continues. The case will now head back to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.[2]
Attorneys for the migrants cited the decision as " the largest mass illegalization event in modern American history."[3]
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/us/politics/supreme-court-immigration-haiti.html[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/05/supreme-court-clears-path-trump-administration-revoke-temporary-protections-hundreds-thousands-immigrants/[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2023/05/05/supreme-court-clears-path-trump-administration-revoke-temporary-protections-hundreds-thousands-immigrants/[4] https://ucc.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Biden-administration-conditionally-defends-its-policies-on-ending-temporary-protections-for-nearly-1-million-immigrants.pdf
The Supreme Court's decision to suspend a lower court order protecting over half a million migrants from certain countries has raised concerns in the realm of policy-and-legislation, given its potential impact on these individuals and their communities. This development, combined with the court's earlier decisions allowing the administration to strip protections from nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants, has sparked discussions in politics and general news regarding the fate of nearly a million immigrants.
