Legislative lowdown: Supreme Court allows Trump to end TPS for Haitians, Syrians

The Supreme Court on June 25 issued a decision allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian nationals.

Roughly 330,000 TPS holders from Haiti and Syria may lose their status and face deportation as a result of the ruling, which could in turn affect businesses that employ members of this population.

Terminations challenged. TPS, which was created by Congress in 1990, allows foreign nationals from countries facing civil unrest, violence, or natural disasters to live and work in the US legally, regardless of their immigration status. Though the designation is intended to last for up to 18 months, the federal government can renew it if conditions in the country remain unchanged.

The White House has targeted TPS holders during President Donald Trump’s second term, moving to end the designation for more than a dozen countries—and over one million people—including Venezuela, Honduras, and Afghanistan.

Haitian and Syrian nationals challenged former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem’s decision to end TPS for their countries in two separate lawsuits where lower courts ruled in their favor. But in a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court sided with the US government on grounds that the TPS statute passed by Congress “bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims.”

What this means for employers. The Supreme Court’s decision clears the way for the Trump administration to end TPS not only for individuals from Haiti and Syria, but also other countries where cases challenging TPS terminations are still pending.

This means TPS holders could lose their work authorization unless they qualify for other legal protections.

The decision is expected to have a particularly acute impact on industries like healthcare and hospitality, which rely heavily on workers with TPS. IHRMC Hotels & Resorts, which operates dozens of hotels in Florida, expects to lose 20% of its staff as a result of the decision, CEO Jan Gautam told CNN.

Workers in the aging services industry aren’t easy to replace, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of the nonprofit LeadingAge, said in a statement. “Staff and caregivers who support older adults every day—legal employees who in some of our communities represent 8% or more of the entire workforce—can now lose their jobs overnight,” she said.

TPS is expected to end for Haiti and Syria on July 1, though other countries may follow, attorneys with the law firm Fisher Phillips wrote in a blog post regarding the decision. They noted that once TPS is officially terminated, Employment Authorization Documents issued under the program for I-9 forms will no longer be valid.

The attorneys recommended reviewing I-9 records and notifying employees who may be impacted, as well as encouraging them to explore other types of legal documentation they may use to re-verify their I-9s.