WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to end legal protections that have shielded some 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation.
The top court granted a request by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans while an appeal proceeds in a lower court.
Federal law permits TPS to be granted to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for Venezuelans for 18 months just days before Trump returned to the White House in January, citing ongoing crises in the South American country under longtime ruler Nicolas Maduro.
A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on the Trump administration’s plans to end TPS for Venezuelan nationals.
US District Judge Edward Chen said the plan to end TPS “smacks of racism” and mischaracterizes Venezuelans as criminals.
“Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,“ Chen wrote.
Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application with the conservative-majority Supreme Court asking it to stay the judge’s order.
Reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday, Venezuelan-American activist Adelys Ferro blasted “a xenophobic, discriminatory, racist attack, coordinated for more than a year against a community whose only sin was to run away from a criminal dictatorship.”
She pointed to the US State Department’s continued Level 4 safety advisory for Venezuela -- its highest warning against travel to the country.
“The Trump administration is basically becoming our tormentor, at least of the most vulnerable,“ Ferro told AFP by phone.
Trump campaigned for president promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants and a number of his executive orders around immigration have encountered pushback from judges across the country -- including the Supreme Court.
The president lashed out at the Supreme Court last week after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua using an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
“The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do,“ he said. “This is a bad and dangerous day for America!”
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Trump, said the alleged Tren de Aragua members were not being given enough time to legally contest their removal.
Trump invoked the AEA, which was last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II, on March 15 and flew two planeloads of alleged TdA members to El Salvador’s notorious maximum security CECOT prison.
Since taking office, Trump has sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated gangs like TdA and MS-13 as terrorist groups.
