After the Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case challenging the Trump administration's move to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for certain immigrants, it may block the government from stripping over a million immigrants of their temporary legal status by a narrow majority. Although the case formally concerns only TPS holders from Haiti and Syria, the Trump administration has initiated similar termination procedures for another 11 countries over the past year, so the ruling expected by the end of June is anticipated to have broad implications for other TPS litigation. TPS allows immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries due to war, instability, or natural disasters to live and work legally in the United States. The central issue in the trial is not merely whether the government can end TPS, but whether former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen properly consulted with the State Department before making her decision—specifically, whether she adequately assessed the current conditions in the affected countries as required by law. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett appear likely to join the liberal justices in concluding that the government’s process was insufficient. Lower courts previously ruled that brief email exchanges between the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department were inadequate to meet the legal consultation requirements. The Trump administration argues that TPS law limits judicial review of how the secretary makes decisions, and that courts should not substitute their judgment for that of the executive branch. Immigrant-side attorneys counter that Congress only prohibited courts from reviewing the final conclusion of the secretary, not from enforcing the clear statutory requirements regarding consultation, deadlines, and procedural steps.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863867380635659/
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