The Supreme Court Will Likely Stop Judicial Interference With DHS Decisions Ending "Temporary Protective Status."
The Court has already tipped its hand on the narrow issues presented by DOJ in its challenge to the district judges blocking the ending of "temporary" TPS for Haiti and Syria.
Earlier this week the Supreme Court agreed to take up two cases, from the Southern District of New York and the District of Columbia, without waiting for either Circuit Court of Appeal to review them on their merits.
Both cases involve Orders granting Preliminary Injunctions blocking DHS from ending “Temporary Protective Status” for illegal aliens in the United States from Syria (SDNY) and Haiti (DC).
But there has been a series of decision in various courts involving other countries that provide a bit of a guide as to where this issue might be headed with the Supreme Court.
First out of the gate was a case in California that originally involved Venezuela and Haiti. The DOJ pursued an appeal of the ruling regarding Venezuela, but waited to address Haiti in a different court that ended up being in D.C.
The Supreme Court twice stepped in and issued “Stays” of Orders by a District Judge in San Francisco that would have extended TPS for Venezuela.
But each Order granting the Stay had no explanation from the Court with regard to its reasons. This has allowed lower courts to effectively ignore what the Supreme Court regarding Venezuela.
DHS also moved to end TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, and the Ninth Circuit blocked lower court orders trying to continue TPS after the Supreme Court’s stays regarding Venezuela.
In addition, the Fourth Circuit blocked district court orders continuing TPS with regard to Cameroon and Afghanistan.
But the Second Circuit and D.C. Circuit allowed district court orders continuing TPS for Syria and Haiti to take effect, leading the DOJ to file Applications for Stays in each case while the cases were pending appeal in those two courts.
In each application the DOJ asked the Supreme Court to consider the Stay Applications as Petitions For Review Prior to Judgment.
To recap:
- SCOTUS blocks district court order extending TPS for Venezuela after Ninth Circuit allows it to stand.
- Ninth Circuit blocks district court order extending TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal after SCOTUS stays order for Venezuela..
- Fourth Circuit blocks district judge order extending TPS for Cameroon and Afghanistan.
- Second Circuit allows district court order to stand continuing TPS for Syria while DOJ appeals.
- D.C. Circuit allows district court order to stand continuing TPS for Haiti while DOJ appeals.