In a significant ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granted President Donald Trump the authority to revoke protected status for immigrants from Haiti and Syria. This decision, which facilitates the enforcement of federal immigration laws, sparked a major public outcry from a Democratic group driven by self-interests.
By a 6-3 vote, the ruling overturned earlier decisions by federal judges that had previously stopped the Trump administration from cutting off Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Haitian nationals and 6,100 individuals from Syria.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, composed of Democratic members, responded with visible anger and frustration.
They argued that SCOTUS is facilitating “the Trump administration’s harshest anti-immigrant measures,” subsequently harming both their communities and the wider economy.
In the wake of the ruling, they convened a press conference where members vocally shared their displeasure with the decision, which effectively empowers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enforce its immigration policies more robustly.
First off was Laura Gillen (D-NY). She sees Haitian TPS recipients as “part of the very fabric of our daily lives and pillars of our economy and our faith communities.”
Next up was a similarly mortified Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ).
He accused the Trump administration of seeking, “to create the largest undocumented population that it possibly can, to fulfill Steph Miller’s mission of deporting and removing as many people as possible… This is purely about inflicting as much pain on our immigrant neighbors.”
Not to be outdone, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-AZ) then strode to the microphone to unleash her venom on the court and the president.
“Today we watched as the Supreme Court sided with an administration that is seeking to strip away the basic human rights, protected under international law, for hundreds of thousands of American families,” she said before turrning her attentions on the Supreme Court.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) was also in high dudgeon. He said, “TPS matters. And to have a president who can unilaterally change the rules as he goes is shameful and awful.”
Guerline Jozef (Founder, Haitian Bridge Alliance) also was in praise of TPS holders and solid in her displeasure at the court and the president.
She said, “We have TPS holders who have been in this country, calling the U.S. home for the past 10, 15, 20 years. They are our doctors, caregivers, attorneys, taxi drivers — the immigrants who keep these United States of ours moving.”
Not to be outdone, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) accused the Supreme Court of having members who delight in siding with the president.
She declared, “Trump’s loyalists in the Supreme Court have joined forces with him to… advance an authoritarian white supremacist agenda.”
As – News reported, SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, clarifying that a migrant who has not physically set foot into the U.S. is not entitled to apply for asylum and does not have to be inspected by an immigration officer.
Similarly, SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe that President Donald Trump’s administration can end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians living in the U.S. — making them deportable.
And, in a third case, SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in Blanche v. Muk Choi Lau, which will make it easier for DHS officials to deport green card-holders who have been convicted of crimes in the U.S.
DHS General Counsel James Percival said the rulings reinforce the steadfast notion the nation’s borders are critical to its sovereignty.