The Trump administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on July 9 to vacate a lower court ruling that blocked the termination of legal protections for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans. The Department of Justice requested that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider its January decision, which had found the administration's end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans was unlawful.
The administration's request follows a June 25 Supreme Court ruling that found federal law bars judicial review of the Department of Homeland Security's decisions to end humanitarian protections for citizens of Haiti and Syria. That 6-3 decision established that non-constitutional challenges to TPS terminations are not subject to court intervention.
In the case of Venezuela, the 9th Circuit previously ruled that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority by terminating the status originally extended during the Biden administration. The Supreme Court had already permitted the termination to take effect in February 2025 while legal challenges proceeded. TPS is a program that grants work authorization and deportation relief to foreign nationals whose home countries are experiencing armed conflict or environmental disasters.