SCOTUS Gives Trump Major Win On Migrant Status

May 19, 2025

I’ve been insisting that Prof. Turley is right—that in the last analysis the SCOTUS will side with Trump’s legal team on most of the Executive Orders. Not all, but most. The SCOTUS is not going to dismantle the Constitution just to poke Trump in the eye, no matter how much some of the justices may agree that Orange Man Bad. So, here’s Turley:

Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley
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The Supreme Court delivered a win for the Administration today by lifting the injunction on the move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for hundreds of thousands of people allowed into the country by Biden from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela...
...The language underlying this special status is highly deferential to the government. The status as parolees is temporary and can be terminated, in the view of the Administration...
...These paroles brought this challenge in one of the most liberal circuits in the country and could still prevail before the Ninth Circuit. It would then be back to the Supreme Court for a review of the merits if the writ is granted.

What this means is that, by lifting the injunction, the SCOTUS sent a clear signal to the Ninth Circuit that if they rule against the government, then the SCOTUS will overrule them. Importantly, this also means that, with the injunction now lifted, the deportations of hundreds of thousands can proceed while the Ninth Circuit talks to itself.

The SCOTUS order was 8-1. You can read more about it here if you’re into this legal who struck John stuff:

Supreme Court Sides With Trump - Allows Removal Of 'Protected Status' From 300,000 Venezuelan Migrants

But, as Turley notes, it’s not just Venezuelans. The SCOTUS is recognizing broad government discretion in creating and/or revoking parole status. That means that, at the same time, it’s notifying the lower courts to respect their constitutional role—which is that they don’t run the government. This is all taking more time that it should—Turley has written about that, too—but it’s working out.