Trump Pushes Supreme Court to End Protected Status for 350,000 Venezuelan Migrants
Sarah Johnson
May 2, 2025
Brief
Trump asks Supreme Court to end protected status for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants, challenging a lower court ruling that blocks deportations. High-stakes legal showdown unfolds.
The Trump administration has taken its battle over Venezuelan migrants straight to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to let it end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S.
TPS lets people stay and work in the U.S. if their home country is too dangerous due to disasters or conflict. But President Trump wants to pull the plug on those protections, which were supposed to expire in April, only to be kept alive by a March federal court order from Judge Edward Chen.
U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer told the Supreme Court that Judge Chen overstepped, saying immigration policy is the executive branch's turf. "The district court’s reasoning is untenable," Sauer argued, adding that TPS decisions involve sensitive judgments about foreign policy and should be left alone by the judiciary.
Sauer didn't hold back, insisting the court order "effectively nullifies" the administration’s move and that it amounts to judicial meddling Congress never intended. In plain English: the Trump team wants the lower court’s block wiped out—fast.
The Department of Homeland Security, led by Kristi Noem, officially ended TPS for Venezuelans on February 1. That sparked an emergency lawsuit and Judge Chen's temporary halt, which sided with the National TPS Alliance. Chen called the termination "unprecedented" and hinted it might be rooted in negative stereotypes about Venezuelan migrants—an accusation Sauer flat-out rejected, calling the judge’s description "cherry picked" and "wrongly portrayed" as racially motivated.
If the Supreme Court grants the stay, the administration could start deporting Venezuelan TPS holders immediately. Plaintiffs have until Thursday to respond, which means the stakes for tens of thousands couldn't be higher.
Honestly, the legal tug-of-war over TPS is starting to feel like a never-ending ping-pong match. At this rate, the Supreme Court might need to start handing out scorecards along with their rulings.
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Editor's Comments
If TPS were a reality show, this would be the season finale cliffhanger—will the Supreme Court give Trump the green light, or will this saga get renewed for another season? With so many Venezuelan lives in the balance, you’d hope for more than just dramatic plot twists.
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