Supreme Court allows cancellation of TPS for Haitians, Syrians, as attorneys warn of impact on thousands

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can cancel the temporary protected status (TPS) for thousands of Haitians and Syrians, concluding that the Department of Homeland Security has broad discretion with little-to-no judicial oversight to decide when they must return home.

The ruling is likely to have a sweeping impact on the approximately 1.3 million people who rely on TPS to live and work in the United States legally, and advocates said they fear it will have devastating and possibly deadly long term costs for those refugees.

Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that courts cannot override the federal government's determination about TPS status in most cases.

TPS status, established by the Immigration and Nationality Act, provides work authorization and protection from deportation -- as long as the Homeland Security Secretary certifies that a foreign country is unsafe because of armed conflict, natural disaster, or "extraordinary and temporary conditions."

Alito concluded that the law establishing the TPS program did not give courts the authority to second guess the DHS's determinations about which countries merit the protected status, which was created to shield immigrants from countries ravaged by war or national disasters.

"The TPS statute plainly bars consideration of respondents' non-constitutional claims. It allows 'no judicial review of any determination ... with respect to the ... termination of a TPS designation," Alito wrote.

Though the ruling centered on the TPS of Haitians and Syrians, the ruling effectively gives the Trump administration the green light to carry out similar terminations, which they have already done for 13 countries.

James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security's General Counsel, praised Thursday's ruling.

"The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense," he said in a statement.

Attorneys for the Haitian plaintiffs said in a statement Thursday that the ruling "will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths."

"This decision will endanger Haitian TPS holders who fled their homeland in pursuit of what generations of immigrants yearned for when they made the painful decision to leave all they have known. to live in safety," Geoffrey Pipoly and Andrew Tauber told ABC News in a statement.

"It's a very sad day, not only for Haitian TPS holders but for anyone who believes, as we do, that immigrants are one of America's greatest strengths," they added. "The responsibility to save these lives is now with Congress--and we urge the Senate to pass the extension of TPS now pending in that chamber. "

It is unclear if Congress will vote on an extension, however, Trump has repeatedly called for the end of TPS protections and would not likely sign off.

The court's liberals also lambasted the decision, arguing that the statements made by President Donald Trump about some of the countries whose status was cancelled -- including making baseless claims that Haitians eat dogs and cats during the 2024 presidential race -- demonstrate that race played a role in the decisions.

"The evidence they have offered includes statements by the President so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print," wrote Justice Kagan. "The references--of filth, disease, and primitiveness--are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes."

The court's liberals also argued that the statute creating TPS does allow courts to review if DHS carried out legally-required procedures to cancel the status -- something the plaintiffs allege did not happen.

"It does nothing to stop courts from reviewing things other than the Secretary's 'determination[s]' concerning TPS designations," Kagan wrote.

Immigrant advocacy groups have warned about the possible sweeping consequences of this ruling, saying it will open the door for an "astonishing human tragedy."

Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake in 2010 and has since been hit by subsequent natural disasters, political unrest following a presidential assassination, and waves of rampant gang violence.

More than 113,000 Haitian TPS holders work in Florida alone, which is home to a high proportion of America's seniors, according to the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Syria devolved into civil war around 2011 and has been considered by the U.S. government a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades. A major earthquake in 2023 plunged the country into a deeper economic and humanitarian crisis.

"This is an awful harbinger for what we expect this administration to try to do for other TPS designations. Hundreds of thousands of people who have lived here for decades now see heartbreaking chaos ahead," FWD.us President Todd Schulte said in a statement Thursday.

Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, in separate acts last year, moved to terminate TPS status for Haiti and Syria by certifying that, in her estimation, conditions on the ground in those countries were sufficiently safe for immigrants to return.

Those decisions were blocked by lower courts, which concluded that Noem did not follow proper procedures for cancelling TPS and may have also unlawfully discriminated against the immigrants on the basis of race.

Pastor Carl Ruby, a prominent community leader in Springfield, Ohio, who has sought to stand up for Haitians there after Trump's false comments about them eating pets rattled the community and preceded numerous bomb threats.

"This is the worst possible outcome," Ruby told ABC News through tears. "I had always held out hope that we would get a good decision and can't believe that we're here now."

Ruby contended that there was racial motivation behind the administration's actions.

"If you look at the history of the president's comments about Haiti and Haitians, it's clear that this wouldn't be happening if these were refugees from Norway. I just feel like we have failed as a country and I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in our country as I am right now," he said.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has defended the Springfield community, said deporting Haitians "is a mistake."

"As a result of today's ruling, the over 10,000 Haitians who have been living in Ohio (mostly in the Springfield area) legally through TPS will now be here illegally and will be subject to immediate deportation," the governor said in a statement.

"This also means that while these Haitians were working and contributing to our community and economy yesterday, today it is now illegal to employ them," he added.

"The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse. The violent gangs run most of the country. The government barely functions. And, the economy is in shambles," DeWine said.

-ABC News' Laura Romero, Armando Garcia and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.