The US Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Syrians.
In a 6-3 ruling, the conservative-leaning court overturned decisions by federal judges in New York and Washington that had halted the termination of TPS for more than 6,100 people from Syria and 350,000 people from Haiti.
TPS provides protection from deportation, as well as the ability to work in the US, to citizens of countries facing conflict or other crises. It is possible for a person to have more than one status that could allow them to stay in the US.
The Trump administration has pushed to end the designation for several countries, including Afghanistan and Yemen. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the ruling, said that courts cannot review the administration's decisions concerning TPS, a decision that could doom legal challenges going forward.
The US first provided TPS to Syrians when the country was plunged into civil war in 2011. The Trump administration announced its intent to end the programme in September last year, with the Department of Homeland Security saying “conditions in Syria no longer prevent their nationals from returning home ... it is contrary to our national interest to allow Syrians to remain in our country".
Groups of Syrian and Haitian TPS holders filed class-action lawsuits separately to challenge the administration's moves. They said the actions and the pattern of ending humanitarian designations for various countries show that the decisions were a preordained effort to eliminate the TPS programme.
Mr Trump has sought to end temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the US, including some who have lived and worked in the country legally for decades.
The dispute has carried potentially wide implications, affecting 1.3 million immigrants from all 17 countries currently designated for TPS. The Trump administration has said such protections were always meant to be temporary.
Critics of the Trump administration slammed the decision.
“It’s horrific and lawless," said Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. “The Supreme Court is letting the president ignore the laws set by Congress and terminate protections for up to 1.3 million TPS workers and their families across the country.”
