In a major decision affecting more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of the Trump administration's effort to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for that group.
According to Breitbart News, the Court's 8-1 ruling lifted a previous judicial block and allowed the administration to move forward with revoking TPS, a policy that had shielded Venezuelan migrants from deportation and granted them work rights in the United States.
The TPS program offers relief from deportation and work authorizations for foreign nationals from countries experiencing severe crises, such as war or natural disasters. Venezuelans became eligible under TPS due to ongoing turmoil and instability in their home country. The ruling marks a significant shift in U.S. immigration policy regarding this population.
The Supreme Court's decision specifically reversed a March 31, 2025, ruling issued by Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. That ruling had temporarily blocked the administration from ending TPS for Venezuelan nationals under a 2023 designation, citing their positive contributions to the U.S. economy.
The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal earlier this month, asking the high court to lift the district court’s stay. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer described Judge Chen's ruling as “untenable” and urged the Court to act swiftly, arguing the President has broad executive authority over immigration matters.
The appeal was first brought before Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who referred it to the rest of the Court. Jackson was the only justice to dissent from Monday’s decision, which granted the administration’s request to proceed with TPS revocation.
In February 2025, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to formally rescind one of the two TPS designations that had applied to Venezuelan nationals. Her decision directly impacted approximately 350,000 Venezuelans who gained TPS protections under the 2023 designation.
According to federal policy, those affected individuals will lose their work permits and protection from removal two months after the revocation is officially published. Venezuelans who received TPS under an earlier designation from 2021 still retain status until September 2025, though that protection may also end in the near future.
Former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had previously extended TPS for hundreds of thousands of others until 2026, protecting both unauthorized and semi-authorized workers. Noem's move rolled back that trend and signaled a change in the administration’s broader approach to immigration enforcement.
Judge Chen’s ruling had emphasized the strong economic role played by Venezuelan migrants in the United States. He noted that many possess university degrees—between 40 to 54 percent—and exhibit high workforce participation, ranging from 80 to 96 percent depending on locality. The migrants also contribute to federal programs by paying into Social Security and stimulating local economies.
Opponents of the revocation have called the Supreme Court’s decision one of the most impactful immigration rollbacks in modern years. Ahilan Arulanantham, an attorney representing the affected migrants, described the decision as the “largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history.”
Supporters of the Trump administration argue the move aligns with long-standing presidential authority on immigration matters. Dale L. Wilcox of the Immigration Reform Law Institute stated that the president has inherent powers to exclude non-citizens, even in the absence of direction from Congress.
The Supreme Court's decision grants a suspension of Judge Chen’s order while the case moves through the appellate courts. The specifics of the decision noted that the March district court ruling is on hold “pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit” as well as any future Supreme Court consideration if a writ of certiorari is properly filed.
This temporary hold clears the way for the Trump administration to implement the TPS rollbacks unless later judicial interventions reverse the path once again. The long-term legal outcome remains uncertain, as the full merits of the case have yet to be evaluated in higher courts.
The ruling also reflects how emergency applications and high court intervention can significantly alter ongoing policy battles, even before a final legal determination is made.
