The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a challenge to the Trump administration's decision to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitian refugees and others protected under the program.
The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in a case challenging the decision by former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to end TPS for Syrian and Haitian nationals. Haitian refugees in Springfield were the subject of racist attacks by Trump as he campaigned for a second term as president in 2024.
The court ruled that the impacts of the end of TPS will take effect immediately, essentially designating the refugees as undocumented immigrants without protection from deportation.
Justice Samuel Alito in his majority opinion wrote that there is no mechanism for judicial review allowed under the temporary protected status program. He also wrote that challenges to the constitutionality of the removal of TPS status is allowed, such as under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, but that such efforts would "likely fail."
Alito, in regards to arguments that Trump and Noem made racially charged statements said that "none of the cited statements by either the President or the Secretary was overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications."
Alito was referring to statements the two made after Trump took office after the decision to end TPS was made. He said that in viewing all the relevant evidence, those arguing in favor of keeping TPS for the refugees "are unlikely to prove that race was a motivating factor in the decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation, and it follows that they are not entitled to interim relief on their equal protection claim."
The decision is likely to impact tens of thousands of Haitian refugees in Springfield and Columbus. A key date upcoming, according to advocates that have aided Haitian refugees in Ohio, is July 6 when those without TPS status would no longer be able to apply for or renew a driver's license. It also impacts work permits that allow the refugees to seek employment.
Justice Elena Kagan authored a dissent of the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown-Jackson. Kagan wrote that....
Kagan cited statements made by Trump and Noem calling Haiti a "shithole country," that Haitian in Springfield were eating cats and dogs, and that Haitians and others were "poisoning the blood" of the country.
"[T]he evidence is there, plain to see, in the President’s statements, which the majority (and for that matter, his own lawyers) cannot even bear to repeat," Kagan wrote.
"The references—of filth, disease, and primitiveness—are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes. It is hard to imagine the statements being made today of any White community," Kagan said.
Justice Clarence Thomas also authored an opinion, agreeing with Alito, but wanting to take the ruling a step further. Thomas said he believes undocumented immigrants have no protections under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
