Supreme Court refuses to hear further TPS challenges, clearing path for termination
The United States Supreme Court on June 10, 2026 issued a brief order refusing to hear further challenges to the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals.
The order vacated a lower‑court injunction that had barred the Department of Homeland Security from ending TPS for Venezuelan migrants and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for reconsideration in light of the Mullin v. Doe decision. By doing so, the Court effectively cleared the way for the government to proceed with termination of TPS for Venezuelan, Haitian and Syrian residents.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, emphasized that the statutory provision governing TPS, 8 U.S.C. §1254a(b)(5)(A), expressly precludes judicial review of the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determinations on designation, termination or extension of TPS. He described the statutory bar as “clear” and “very broad,” reinforcing the administration’s authority to end the program.
The decision follows an October 5, 2025 order in Mullin v. National TPS Alliance that already vacated a district court ruling halting the termination of TPS for Venezuelan nationals, a group of more than 600,000 people. Earlier, district courts had blocked termination for roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals and about 6,100 Syrian nationals. Those blocks are now invalidated, allowing DHS to move forward with removal proceedings for those groups.
Legal experts note that the Supreme Court’s brief order represents a final resolution of the long‑standing litigation over TPS. With the statutory bar affirmed, further court challenges are unlikely to succeed, and the administration is expected to issue termination notices and begin processing removals in the coming weeks.
Stakeholders warn that the loss of TPS could have profound humanitarian and economic impacts on communities that have relied on the protected status for years. Advocacy groups are preparing to assist affected individuals with applications for alternative relief, while the government signals readiness to enforce the termination promptly.
The next step will be DHS’s formal termination of TPS for the affected nations, after which individuals may seek other forms of relief or face removal. The Supreme Court’s decision signals that the legal avenue to block those terminations has effectively closed.
