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WASHINGTON (AP) - You better brace yourself, folks, because the Trump administration has a shocker up its sleeve! In a staggering move, they've asked the Supreme Court to rip off temporary legal protections from a whopping 350,000 Venezuelans – potentially paving the way for their deportation.

The Justice Department didn't pull any punches, filing a high-stakes appeal with the high court to put on hold a ruling that kept Temporary Protected Status (TPS) alive for these Venezuelans. A federal judge in San Francisco had previously saved the day, keeping the TPS status intact when it would've otherwise run out last month.

You might be wondering what the heck TPS is, right? Well, it's a nifty legal trick that lets people already in the U.S. stay and work here legally. The reason? Their home countries are deemed to be a bit of a dangerous mess due to natural disasters or civil strife.

The administration's aggressive moves to roll back protections for immigrants haven't stopped at our Venezuelan friends. They've also chopped TPS for a grand total of 1.1 million Venezuelans and Haitians. TPS is usually renewed every 18 months.

This emergency appeal to the Supreme Court came on the very same day a federal judge in Texas declared the administration's attempts to boot Venezuelans out of the country via an 18th-century wartime law as being as illegal as a white-collar criminal skimming off the top! The cases, luckily, have no connection whatsoever.

The TPS protections were due to expire on April 7, but U.S. District Judge Edward Chen wasn't having it. He ordered a standstill on the proceedings, citing how the expiration would create chaos for hundreds of thousands of people, with potentially billions being lost in economic activity.

The chillax judge had been put on the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, and he felt that the government hadn't shown a lick of damage from keeping the program operational. But Solicitor General D. John Sauer, in a rather blunt move, on behalf of the administration, claimed that Chen's order was unwarranted meddling in immigration and foreign affairs matters.

Sauer also shared with the justices that those affected by ending the protected status might still be able to find other legal grounds to stick around in the good ol' USA, as terminating TPS doesn't mean a direct ticket back to their war-torn countries (whew!).

The TPS program was cooked up in 1990 to block deportations to countries that are coping with natural disasters or civil strife.

[1] District Court Order

[2] Appeals Court Decision

[3] Solicitor General's Appeal to the Supreme Court

The Trump administration's appeal to the Supreme Court aims to dismantle temporary legal protections for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially leading to their deportation.
The Justice Department's appeal seeks to put on hold a ruling that kept Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in place for these Venezuelans, initially saved by a federal judge in San Francisco.
TPS is a legal mechanism that allows individuals already in the U.S. to stay and work legally due to the dangerous conditions in their home countries.
The administration's efforts to scrap protections for immigrants extend beyond Venezuelans, as TPS has been revoked for 1.1 million Venezuelan and Haitian individuals.
On the same day, a federal judge in Texas deemed the administration's attempts to push Venezuelan nationals out of the country illegal, based on an 18th-century wartime law.
The TPS protections were set to expire on April 7, but the judge imposed a standstill on the proceedings, considering the chaos it would create for hundreds of thousands of people and potential economic losses in billions.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer, on behalf of the administration, argued that the judge's order constituted unwarranted meddling in immigration and foreign affairs matters, despite the judge's assertion that the government hadn't shown any damage from keeping the program operational.