The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s effort to cancel legal protections for over 500,000 migrants, paving the way for possible mass deportations.
The decision halts a lower court’s block on ending a humanitarian parole programme that was originally created to assist people fleeing dangerous conditions in countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
This parole programme introduced during the Biden presidency, allowed eligible migrants to live and work in the United States for two years based on humanitarian need or public benefit. The new court ruling now puts the legal status of these individuals in limbo, with many potentially facing removal from the country in the coming months.
The Supreme Court ruling followed an emergency request by the Trump administration after a federal judge in Massachusetts had stopped the planned shutdown of the programme. The White House has openly supported the decision, saying it provides a legal basis to remove migrants they view as improperly admitted.
Migrants affected by the ruling are mostly from nations facing extreme political or economic instability. Many of them argue that returning to their countries could expose them to persecution or life-threatening conditions. Advocacy groups have warned that the decision will disrupt lives and families and could lead to serious human rights concerns.
Two of the court’s liberal justices disagreed with the decision. In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that allowing the deportation process to begin before the legal challenges are fully resolved could cause irreversible harm to the migrants involved.
This decision follows a recent move by the court that also allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants. Combined, these rulings represent a sharp turn in US immigration policy, reinforcing the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce legal migration routes into the country.
The Department of Homeland Security had already begun dismantling the parole programme in March, following an executive order issued by President Trump on his first day back in office. Legal challenges are ongoing, but with the Supreme Court’s latest decision, the administration now has the green light to begin acting immediately.
Advocates for immigrant rights are continuing to push back, but many of the migrants currently protected under the programme are bracing for uncertain and potentially dangerous futures.