The Trump administration has turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in an emergency bid to end temporary legal protections for Syrians in the United States, even as litigation continues in lower courts.
The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to allow the government to proceed with ending the temporary protected status for Syrians after a federal judge in New York blocked the government’s decision. The request seeks to overturn the pause while the lawsuits challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s actions move through the courts, and it frames the case as one in which immigration authorities have the power to grant or revoke the protections without judicial interference. A response to the administration’s request is due March 4, according to the government filing described by the Associated Press.
The administration’s filing builds on earlier disputes that have already reached multiple levels of the federal judiciary. Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed in November to delay the termination of the protections, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals left that decision in place, according to the AP report.
At the center of the controversy is the Department of Homeland Security’s determination that conditions in Syria no longer met the program’s criteria for an ongoing armed conflict posing a serious threat to the safety of Syrians returning there. The AP report said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted to revoke the protected status less than a year after the protections were granted, finding that Syria no longer met the standard for an ongoing armed conflict.
Immigration lawyers challenged that decision, arguing that Syria was still facing a humanitarian crisis and that the swift revocation of legal protections would leave Syrians in the United States with “impossible choices,” the AP report said. The dispute, in other words, is not only about whether the protections can be ended, but also about timing and what should happen while the legal challenges play out.
The Associated Press reported that about 6,100 people from Syria had temporary legal status after fleeing armed conflict, based on court documents. The International Refugee Assistance Project estimated that ending the protections could halt their authorization to work legally in the United States and expose more people to possible deportation, including about 800 people with pending applications.
The filing also asks the Supreme Court to go beyond the Syrian-specific dispute. In addition to seeking relief tied to the New York judge’s ruling, the government asked for a broader order that could affect other cases involving protections for people from other countries as the administration pursues its immigration crackdown, according to the AP report.
The request arrives as the Supreme Court’s emergency docket has become an avenue for fast-moving immigration litigation, with the administration citing prior high-court decisions that allowed it to proceed with parts of its agenda. The AP report said the court has previously allowed immigration authorities to end legal protections for migrants from Venezuela while litigation continues, and it pointed to a recent separate case in which a different judge in Washington blocked the administration from ending protections for 350,000 Haitians.
Congress created temporary protected status in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries experiencing natural disasters, civil strife, or other dangerous conditions. Under the program, the designation is granted in 18-month increments by the homeland security secretary, a structure that the current Supreme Court request is now testing in the midst of ongoing legal challenges.