The Trump administration has turned to the Supreme Court as it attempts to eliminate deportation protections for Venezuelans living in the U.S. This move, made on a recent Friday, aims to challenge a previous ruling from an appeals court that determined Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem did not have the authority to revoke protections for about 600,000 Venezuelans.
In August, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans. This decision followed former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s redesignation of TPS for Venezuela shortly before his retirement, citing the country’s deeply troubling humanitarian crisis.
The central issue at hand is whether Noem can simply overturn the decisions made by past secretaries. The TPS program requires formal procedures for both granting and terminating status, which includes public notice in the Federal Register and an assessment of the national circumstances involved.
Both the presiding judge in San Francisco and the 9th Circuit concluded that Noem did not have the authority to withdraw the protections that Mayorkas had previously established.
The panel noted, “The plaintiffs have a strong chance of success in arguing that the earlier extension of TPS is not allowed under current law. Congress created a predictable, reliable system for temporary status that should remain insulated from political influences.”
In its communication to the Supreme Court, the Trump administration expressed concerns about the potential harm of not proceeding with deportations for Venezuelans. They stated, “While the district court order stands, the Secretary is forced to let over 300,000 Venezuelans stay in the country, even if she believes temporarily allowing it is ‘not in the national interest.’
Earlier in May, the Supreme Court had temporarily halted lower court rulings, permitting the government to carry on with deportations while the matter was sent back to the circuit court for further examination.
However, subsequent legal reviews have complicated the matter. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, based in California, indicated in April that the government did not follow proper protocols when attempting to strip the TPS and remarked that the administration appeared to act “at least in part out of animus.”
Chen explained, “The reasons cited by the Secretary lack substantial evidence. For instance, there is no proof that recipients of Venezuelan TPS are affiliated with any gang, like Tren de Aragua, or involved in criminal activity.” He further noted that Venezuelan TPS holders generally have lower crime rates and higher education levels compared to the general U.S. population.
