Politics
JUST IN: Trump Scores Massive Legal Victory After Woke Judge Is Smacked Down By SCOTUS
President Donald Trump scored another immigration victory Wednesday after a federal judge officially cleared the way for his administration to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians, removing the final legal roadblock to deportations.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a brief order declaring that her earlier injunction is no longer in effect, formally allowing the administration to move forward with ending the humanitarian program after the Supreme Court overturned her previous ruling.
“The court’s order, which had stayed the effective date of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Termination of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status pending judicial review, is no longer in effect,” Reyes wrote.
The decision ends weeks of uncertainty following the Supreme Court’s ruling in late June, when the justices sided with the Trump administration but left unanswered exactly when the protections would officially expire.
“As a result of today’s order implementing the Supreme Court’s decision, Haitian TPS holders – all of them non-criminals – can no longer legally work, and many are subject to removal to Haiti, which continues to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world,” said Geoff Pipoly, an attorney representing the Haitian TPS holders who challenged the administration.
Federal immigration officials had already begun preparing to target TPS recipients whose status was set to expire, according to sources familiar with the plans. Wednesday’s order removes another hurdle, allowing deportations to move forward.
“We’re going after them right now,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told NewsNation this week. “These individuals can either self-deport or we’ll arrest you and send you back. It’s that simple.”
POLL: Should Sanctuary Cities Be Banned From Federal Funding?
Some Haitians have recently been ordered to report to ICE offices, where they were fitted with ankle monitors as an alternative to detention while their immigration status is resolved.
Others who previously received TPS may avoid immediate deportation if they have separate immigration cases pending, including asylum claims or other legal avenues to remain in the United States.
While the injunction has now been dissolved, the lawsuit itself is still alive.
Attorneys representing the Haitian migrants continue to argue that the Trump administration acted with discriminatory intent when it terminated the protections, even after the Supreme Court rejected the current evidence supporting that claim.
Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, had previously ruled that then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem likely failed to follow the law when ending Haiti’s TPS designation and also found the decision was likely influenced by racial animus. The Supreme Court reversed that ruling, concluding the evidence before the judge did not support that finding and limiting federal courts’ ability to review the secretary’s decision.
The administration is also defending similar moves to end TPS protections for migrants from Ethiopia, Burma and South Sudan, though separate federal judges have temporarily blocked those efforts while additional legal challenges proceed.
“Nothing in the decision suggests that the plaintiffs here cannot try to marshal the additional evidence necessary to prove their equal protection claim,” lawyers for the migrants told Reyes in a court filing last month.
POLL: Ilhan Omar Now Claims She’s Broke – Do You Believe Her?
