SPRINGFIELD — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 25, 2026, in favor of the Trump Administration's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The decision overturns lower court orders that had blocked the termination of TPS.

This ruling allows the administration to remove humanitarian protections from approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians legally residing in the United States. Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the six-justice conservative majority that immigration authorities hold exclusive authority to end TPS designations, an authority he said is unreviewable. Alito also stated that derogatory remarks made by President Trump regarding Haitian migrants were insufficient to indicate the termination of Haiti's TPS designation was racially motivated.

DHS General Counsel James Percival addressed the ruling, stating, "The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense." Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent that the evidence included presidential statements so "repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print." Ahilan Arulanantham, a lawyer, stated that the court's decision permitted the government to disregard a fundamental humanitarian protection established by Congress three decades prior. Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, described the ruling as a betrayal of Haitian families.

TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to protect migrants from deportation when their home countries are considered too perilous for their return. Haitians initially received TPS in 2010 following an earthquake. Syrians were granted TPS in 2012 due to their country's civil war.

The Trump administration has sought to end TPS for 13 of the 17 countries with active designations since returning to office in January 2025. The remaining countries with active TPS designations include El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine. Court documents in the case cited the February 2026 killing of four Haitian women who were deported and later found beheaded.

Approximately 200,000 Haitian TPS holders are part of the U.S. workforce, with 15,000 in agricultural roles and 13,000 as nursing assistants. Haitian and Syrian TPS holders contribute an estimated $5.9 billion to the U.S. economy. The U.S. State Department advises against all travel to both Haiti and Syria, citing widespread violence, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping.

Why It Matters

The Supreme Court's ruling affects the legal status of nearly 360,000 individuals who have resided in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, some for over a decade. The decision allows their humanitarian protections to be removed, potentially leading to their return to countries the State Department advises against traveling to due to violence and instability.