White House Slams Lower Court for Ruling Oppositely
The US government asked the Supreme Court this Friday to remove the protections against deportation granted to approximately 300,000 Venezuelan citizens residing in the United States, which would allow their deportation, and accused a lower court of having incurred an “unnecessary affront” by issuing a contrary ruling.
The request is related to the decision made earlier this year by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to Venezuelan migrants in the US, ahead of the deadline stipulated by her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, during Joe Biden’s term.
The Trump administration has argued that “allowing foreign nationals to remain temporarily in the United States [would be] contrary to the country’s national interest” and has warned of the danger of a potential “pull effect,” attracting more Venezuelans “beyond current TPS beneficiaries.”
Furthermore, the “weak and inadequately developed” basis for expanding the protected status during the previous administration—Noem explained—would give the new administration carte blanche to “make (its own) informed decisions regarding TPS designations,” according to the petition filed with the Supreme Court.
Regarding the opposing ruling from lower courts, the same brief rejects the decision, arguing that “the Secretary’s actions regarding the TPS designation for Venezuela must remain in effect while the litigation proceeds,” as previously held.
“That decision reflected this Court’s assessment that the legal merits and equitable factors favor the Administration. Given that none of those factors have changed, this Court should reinstate the stay pending a final ruling on the merits,” the statement continued.
Adding to all these arguments is the fact that the Supreme Court’s initial order in this case included no justification for its ruling, something the Trump administration claims is irrelevant.
“Whether these rulings consist of a single line or several pages, disobeying them—as the lower courts have done here—is unacceptable,” the former president’s legal team stated, as reported by CNN.
Meanwhile, several lower court judges have expressed confusion about how to proceed in cases where the Supreme Court has offered little or no explanation in its swift decisions. “They’re not giving us any guidance,” lamented Federal Circuit Judge James Wynn during a hearing earlier this month in a case involving the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Social Security data.
A key issue in the litigation is whether Kristi Noem had the legal authority to revoke TPS before its validity expired. The Biden administration had initially granted Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan citizens in March 2021, in response to increasing instability in Venezuela, and extended it again in 2023.
Thus, just two weeks before the transfer of power to current President Donald Trump, the Biden administration renewed these protections for another 18 months.
For this reason, the plaintiffs—who were previously TPS beneficiaries—have criticized Noem’s decision to suddenly repeal these protections as violating the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires federal agencies to follow certain formal steps when modifying public policy. Furthermore, they have denounced that this decision was motivated by political and racial reasons.
