Supreme Court lets Trump end TPS for Haitian, Syrian immigrants

The Supreme Court on June 25 cleared President Donald Trump to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 356,000 Haitian and Syrian immigrants, a 6-3 ruling that removed a major legal barrier to deportations. Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority that the TPS statute gives the president unreviewable authority to end the program, with no court intervention on non-constitutional claims.

Congress created the program in 1990 as a short-term humanitarian shield for people who cannot safely return home. Haiti first received TPS in 2010 after the earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people. Syria was designated in 2012 because of deteriorating conditions under Bashar al-Assad and the civil war. Both protections were repeatedly extended until 2025, when then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced plans to end them.

About 350,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians could lose protection from deportation and the work authorization that comes with TPS once the Department of Homeland Security moves forward. The TPS law bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims, clearing the way for DHS to terminate the designations while litigation continues. The Haitian case also raised equal-protection claims and arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, while the Syrian challenge came out of federal court in New York.

Haitian Bridge Alliance put the figure at more than 300,000 Haitian TPS holders. Haiti is facing spiraling gang violence, mass displacement and collapsing public institutions.

The ruling could affect more than 1 million immigrants from 17 TPS-designated countries, and the Trump administration has already moved to rescind TPS for people from 13 countries since returning to office in January 2025. In April 2026, the House passed bipartisan legislation to extend protections for Haitians, but the measure stalled in the Senate.