President Donald Trump has requested that the U.S. Supreme Court revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans, as part of his broader immigration crackdown and push for mass deportations.
The appeal follows a decision by a federal judge in San Francisco to extend TPS for Venezuelans, which had been set to expire in April. Established by Congress in 1990, TPS protects nationals from countries facing armed conflict or natural disasters from being deported.
District Judge Edward Chen justified his ruling by stating that ending the protections would disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands and cause significant economic harm.
The Trump administration is challenging that decision, arguing that it interferes with the federal government’s exclusive authority over immigration and foreign policy. The case was brought before the Supreme Court on Thursday.
That same day, another legal setback emerged when a federal judge in Texas ruled that Trump’s use of an 18th-century law—the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA)—to deport Venezuelans was unlawful. Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, found that the president had misapplied the statute, which was originally intended for wartime use.
Trump had invoked the AEA earlier this year, claiming that the U.S. was facing an “invasion” by the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. However, Judge Rodriguez wrote that the presidential proclamation failed to show any evidence of an organized, armed threat directed by Venezuela.
