Supreme Court Ruling Threatens TPS for 500,000+ Immigrants

On the same day, the Supreme Court handed down two major rulings on immigration. Together, they give the Trump administration broad new power to block people from seeking protection — both at the border and inside the US. For hundreds of thousands of immigrants living here under Temporary Protected Status (TPS, a program that lets people from dangerous countries stay and work in the US legally), the second ruling may be the most important immigration decision in a generation.

What the TPS ruling actually says

The case, Mullin v. Doe, challenged the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for Haiti and Syria. Lower courts had blocked those terminations while lawsuits moved forward. The Supreme Court, in a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, said the Trump administration can move forward with stripping TPS while courts decide whether it acted lawfully. But the ruling goes further than that. It says TPS holders generally cannot sue the government for breaking federal law when it ends their status — they can only sue if the government violated the US Constitution. That is a much higher bar. The TPS holders in this case argued that the Trump administration was motivated by racial bias against non-European immigrants, which would violate the Constitution's equal protection guarantee. The Court rejected that argument, saying that because the administration was terminating TPS for everyone — not just one racial group — it was not a race-based policy.

New evidence had just come to light in the lower-court case showing that Trump political appointees overruled career government officials who warned that Haiti was still not safe to return to. Federal law requires TPS decisions to be based on conditions in the country. The Supreme Court essentially said that even if the administration broke that law, TPS holders have no legal remedy — unless they can prove a constitutional violation. That makes future lawsuits over TPS terminations for other countries — including El Salvador, with about 170,000 TPS holders whose status comes up in September 2026 — very unlikely to succeed. Courts in other ongoing cases have so far preserved TPS for Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen — a combined 10,000 people — but the new ruling strongly suggests those protections will also fall.

What the border ruling means

The second ruling, in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, was decided 6–3. It says that asylum seekers waiting in Mexico have not legally "arrived in the United States" and therefore cannot request asylum or inspection at a port of entry. This gives the Trump administration legal cover to physically block people from even approaching a border crossing to ask for protection. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing that the law allows asylum applications from anyone at the border. The ruling does not directly affect people already inside the US. But it does mean the border will become harder to cross legally — and that people who need protection may feel forced to enter the US without papers, which puts them at greater legal risk.

What to do

• If you have TPS for Haiti or Syria: Your status will end roughly 32 days after the ruling — possibly sooner. Contact an immigration lawyer immediately to find out if you qualify for any other legal status, such as a green card through a family member or employer.
• If you have TPS for El Salvador: Your current grant runs until September 2026. Do not wait. Talk to a lawyer now about your options before the deadline arrives.
• If you have TPS for Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, or Yemen: Court protections may still be in place for now, but the Supreme Court's ruling makes them fragile. Start planning for the possibility that your TPS ends soon.
• If you are trying to seek asylum at the border: The legal path through a port of entry is now effectively closed. People in this situation should speak with a lawyer or a nonprofit immigration organization before attempting to cross.