The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to clear the way for ending deportation protections for roughly 6,000 Syrian migrants currently living and working in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, intensifying its broader effort to rein in what it views as an overextended immigration system.
Temporary Protected Status, or T.P.S., was created to shield foreign nationals from deportation when conditions in their home countries are deemed unsafe. Syrians were first granted the designation in 2012 amid what the government at the time described as “extraordinary and temporary conditions” stemming from a brutal crackdown by former President Bashar al-Assad.
Although intended as a short-term measure, the protections were repeatedly renewed over the years — including during President Trump’s first term — allowing thousands of Syrians to remain in the country without fear of removal. That changed in September, when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the administration’s decision to terminate the program for Syrians, concluding that conditions no longer met the legal threshold for an ongoing armed conflict posing a serious threat to returning nationals.
In addition to reassessing the security situation abroad, Noem cited what she described as “significant public safety and national security risks” in continuing the program. She noted that the United States lacks an embassy in Syria, limiting the government’s ability to access reliable information needed to properly vet individuals seeking to enter or remain in the country.
The move is part of a larger immigration crackdown by the administration, which has sought to wind down T.P.S. designations affecting more than one million foreign nationals. Those efforts have triggered multiple legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed in October by a group of Syrian nationals contesting the termination of their protections.
On Thursday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency request asking the Supreme Court to halt a lower court order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that blocked the administration from ending T.P.S. for Syrians. Sauer argued that the appeals court’s ruling conflicts with temporary orders the Supreme Court issued in another case involving Venezuelan migrants. He also urged the justices to take up the broader legal questions to provide clarity for lower courts grappling with similar disputes.
The administration labeled the Second Circuit’s decision “indefensible” in light of the Supreme Court’s earlier actions. The Justice Department warned that without intervention, lower courts would continue to “impede the termination of temporary protection that the secretary has deemed contrary to the national interest,” effectively prolonging litigation indefinitely.
Lawyers representing the Syrian migrants argue that Secretary Noem’s decision was “preordained” and that she failed to consult appropriate agencies before acting. The Supreme Court has asked the migrants’ attorneys to file a formal response by next Thursday.
The legal landscape surrounding T.P.S. remains complex. Lower court judges have ruled against the administration in cases involving about 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 350,000 Haitians. However, this month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit permitted the administration to proceed with ending protections for more than 60,000 migrants from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Fourth Circuit similarly allowed Noem to terminate protections for migrants from Afghanistan and Cameroon.
The Ninth Circuit specifically cited the Supreme Court’s emergency orders last May and October that allowed the administration to lift protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. Still, the Second Circuit maintained that those orders did not automatically control the Syrian case, noting differences in country conditions and legal grounds.
With the matter now before the Supreme Court, the justices’ decision could have sweeping implications for the administration’s authority to scale back temporary immigration protections nationwide.
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