The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered two significant wins to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, ruling 6-3 in separate cases that the government may end Temporary Protected Status protections with minimal judicial oversight and may physically prevent migrants from claiming asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the TPS case, the justices found that federal courts have limited authority to review the executive branch’s decision to rescind the humanitarian designation, which covers nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. The ruling applies to TPS holders from Haiti and Syria, among other countries, and clears the way for the administration to end protections for tens of thousands of immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for years under the program.
In the second case, which MSI reported separately earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act’s phrase “arrive in” to require physical entry onto U.S. soil, meaning border agents can turn away migrants before they reach ports of entry where they would be entitled to apply for asylum protection. The decision overturned lower-court rulings that had blocked the practice.
The rulings come as the Trump administration has intensified its immigration enforcement campaign. Earlier this week, a federal appeals court allowed the administration to expand expedited removal — a fast-track deportation process — to non-citizens apprehended anywhere in the United States. MSI reported that the 2-1 decision overturned a lower court’s nationwide block on the policy. Trump also signed into law this month a roughly $70 billion package to fund immigration enforcement through September 2029, directing tens of billions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.