The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to cancel deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitian migrants, accusing lower court judges of wrongly blocking the president’s immigration agenda.
The administration filed an emergency application with the high court seeking to reinstate its decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Federal judges have twice intervened to block the move, prompting the White House to escalate directly to the Supreme Court.
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian designation that shields nationals from countries experiencing war, natural disasters, or other crises from deportation. The Biden administration expanded Haitian TPS protections significantly following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise and a series of devastating earthquakes.
Trump moved to end those protections shortly after taking office, arguing the original conditions that triggered the designation have changed and that the program has been abused as a de facto immigration pathway.
Haitian TPS holders would be required to leave the country or face deportation if the Supreme Court grants the administration’s request. The affected population represents one of the largest single TPS groups in the country.
The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will take up the application. The justices could issue an emergency administrative stay while they consider the request, or allow lower court orders to remain in place.
The case is one of several immigration disputes the administration has fast-tracked to the Supreme Court after encountering resistance from federal district and appellate courts. The high court has sided with the administration in some recent immigration disputes while declining to intervene in others.
