US Supreme Court permits Trump to deport 500,000 immigrants from Venezuela, Cuba, two others

The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with the removal of more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The decision revokes their humanitarian parole protections.

The court issued an unsigned order staying a lower court’s ruling that had temporarily blocked the policy change. It did not offer an explanation for its decision.

In March, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded protections previously granted under the Biden administration. Affected migrants were given 30 days to leave the US unless they had another form of legal status.

Immigrants and advocacy groups filed lawsuits, arguing that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem lacked authority to revoke protections on a categorical basis. They claimed the law only permits case-by-case decisions. A federal district court agreed with this argument.

Despite that, the Supreme Court’s decision allows the administration to enforce the policy while legal battles continue in lower courts.

Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. Jackson, in her written opinion, strongly criticized the majority’s stance.

She wrote that the court “undervalu[es] the devastating consequences of allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending.”

“Even if the Government is likely to win on the merits, in our legal system, success takes time,” Jackson continued. “And the stay standards require more than anticipated victory. I would have denied the Government’s application because its harm-related showing is patently insufficient.”

Earlier this month, the Court also permitted the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 350,000 Venezuelans. That decision removed protections from deportation and stripped work authorization.

Meanwhile, the administration has imposed immigration limits on countries such as Afghanistan and Haiti. However, it recently admitted white South African refugees, a move that drew criticism.

The administration claimed there was a genocide occurring against white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. That assertion was publicly rejected by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office.

This Supreme Court ruling marks a major step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape US immigration policy. Legal challenges are expected to continue.

(ABC News)

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