Overview
- The Supreme Court issued two 6-3 decisions that let border officials deny asylum to people stopped on the Mexican side of ports of entry and bar federal courts from hearing nonconstitutional challenges to terminations of Temporary Protected Status.
- The rulings, handed down June 25, clear the way for the Department of Homeland Security to end TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals and about 6,100 Syrians and to revive so-called metering at southern ports of entry.
- The majority said the law defines an arrival as physical entry into the United States and that the TPS statute prevents judges from second-guessing the executive’s decisions, while three liberal justices dissented, arguing evidence pointed to racial bias.
- DHS and the White House praised the decisions as tools for border control, while cities, states, employers and advocacy groups warned of immediate harm to families, possible deportations, and shortages in sectors that rely on TPS workers such as health care and caregiving.
- The rulings narrow judicial oversight but leave open further constitutional and implementation fights and create uncertainty for up to an estimated 1.3 million current TPS beneficiaries from 17 countries and for how CBP will run asylum processing at ports of entry.