The Trump administration on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove temporary legal protections from approximately 350,000 Venezuelans living in the country, a move that could expose them to deportation.
The Justice Department filed an emergency request with the high court to halt a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that had preserved Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans. These protections had been set to expire last month.
TPS allows individuals already in the U.S. to live and work legally if their home countries are considered unsafe due to conflict or natural disasters. A federal appeals court had previously denied the administration’s request to terminate these protections.
This latest legal move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scale back immigration protections. In addition to Venezuelans, the administration has also worked to end TPS for around 500,000 Haitians, with TPS typically extended in 18-month increments.
On the same day the appeal was filed, a federal judge in Texas ruled against the administration’s attempt to deport Venezuelans under a rarely used wartime law from the 18th century. While unrelated to the TPS case, the ruling marked another legal obstacle for the administration.
In San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen—appointed by former President Barack Obama—blocked the termination of TPS, stating that ending the protections would seriously impact hundreds of thousands of lives and potentially cost billions of dollars in economic losses. He also noted the government had failed to show any compelling harm caused by continuing the program.
In contrast, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued to the Supreme Court that Judge Chen’s decision unlawfully interferes with the executive branch’s authority over immigration and foreign policy. He also pointed out that ending TPS does not automatically mean individuals will be deported, as they may have other legal avenues to remain in the U.S.
TPS was established by Congress in 1990 as a way to prevent forced deportations to countries experiencing major crises such as natural disasters or armed conflict.