Supreme Court Asked to Re-examine Protections for Venezuelan and Haitian Nationals

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to order the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to reconsider a ruling on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan and Haitian nationals. Solicitor General D. John Sauer submitted the filing on July 9, and the court docketed it on Monday.

Sauer's request urges the Supreme Court to instruct the 9th Circuit to re-evaluate its decision. The 9th Circuit ruled on a challenge to former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen Nielsen's decisions to terminate TPS designations for both countries. TPS allows foreign nationals to remain and work in the United States when they cannot safely return to their home countries.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas designated Venezuela for TPS in 2021 and redesignated it in 2023. In 2025, he extended the program through October 2026. Mayorkas cited a "severe humanitarian emergency" and a "severe political and economic crisis" in Venezuela for the designation.

In 2010, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano designated Haiti for TPS following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. That event killed over 300,000 people and caused extensive damage. The government repeatedly extended Haiti's TPS designation.

After Nielsen announced decisions to end the TPS designations for both nations, a group representing TPS holders filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen set aside the termination decisions, and the 9th Circuit affirmed that ruling.

Last fall, as litigation continued, the Supreme Court paused Judge Chen's order regarding Venezuela. This action allowed the Trump administration to proceed with deportations of Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries while the case moved forward. The 9th Circuit subsequently declined to reconsider its decision.

Now, the Trump administration has approached the Supreme Court again. They ask the justices to overturn the lower court's ruling and direct the 9th Circuit to re-examine the case. This request cites the Supreme Court's ruling last month in *Mullin v. Doe*. In that decision, the court found that federal courts generally cannot review a Secretary of Homeland Security's decision to designate or terminate a country under the TPS program.

Sauer stated in *Mullin v. Doe* that the law creating the TPS program prohibits courts from reviewing non-constitutional claims. He argued that the court of appeals reached a different conclusion. Sauer believes sending the case back to the 9th Circuit would allow that court to reconsider its previous findings in light of the *Mullin* ruling. The challengers' response to this latest filing is due by August 12.