Press Release

Washington, D.C. –  The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign strongly condemns the Supreme Court’s May 19 decision allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 350,000 Venezuelans who have been living in the United States for years in safety. This decision strips Venezuelans who received temporary protection in 2023 of legal status and work authorization, while the case moves through the lower court. Those TPS holders are now at  imminent risk of detention and deportation.

In January, immigrant rights groups representing Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders sued the Trump administration when U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attempted to cancel TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians.  A federal district court halted this decision, finding that Secretary Noem’s decision appeared to be motivated by racial bias toward Venezuelans and violated procedural rules. This week’s Supreme Court ruling in the case, NTPSA vs. Noem, allows Noem’s decision to take effect with regards to Venezuelans who received TPS under the 2023 designation. It represents the first time that a TPS designation has been rescinded since the TPS statute was enacted 35 years ago—and a cruel betrayal of the promise of protection the U.S. government made to Venezuelans. 

The cancellation of protected status for communities across the country is part of the Trump administration’s cruel agenda of mass deportations, disappearances, and family separations. Last week, the Trump administration also terminated temporary protected status for Afghanistan, leaving more than 11,000 Afghans at risk of being forced back to a country in which they face escalating danger and persecution. The administration has also terminated TPS for Cameroon, placing 8,000 Cameroonians at imminent risk of harm when their status expires in June 2025.  In February, the administration ended protections for 500,000 Haitian TPS holders, whose status is set to expire on August 3; this decision is also being challenged in the NTPSA v. Noem case.

The revocation of TPS leaves hundreds of thousands of people in a state of limbo, unable to safely return to their home countries, while unable to find stability and freedom in the United States. The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign supports our partners in their ongoing fight for justice for TPS holders. 

“This is the largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, and one of the counsel for plaintiffs. “That the Supreme Court authorized it in a two-paragraph order with no reasoning is truly shocking. The humanitarian and economic impact of the Court’s decision will be felt immediately and will reverberate for generations.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the lower court’s injunction puts thousands of families in immediate danger,” said Robyn Barnard, Senior Director of Refugee Advocacy at Human Rights First. “This action will have a catastrophic impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who are now at risk of losing their ability to work legally, access basic services, and live without fear of detention, deportation, and separation from loved ones, all while the case continues to move through the courts. Stripping people of this temporary protection makes no sense given the ongoing crisis and dangerous conditions in Venezuela, which makes it unsafe for many to return. This is a devastating blow to all of the people who have rebuilt their lives here under the protection of TPS, and who now face renewed and unnecessary uncertainty and fear.”

“We regret that the current administration is politicizing TPS, a tool that for more than three decades has proven to be a valuable public policy resource with positive impacts on social development in the United States and in the countries currently designated for TPS. Meanwhile the U.S. Supreme Court is ignoring the current humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and placing countless families at risk of deportation, instability, and economic hardship. Its decision is not only cruel, but also insufficient to deliver justice to thousands of people and their families,” stated Yanira Arias, Migrant Justice Coordinator with Alianza Americas. “We, the organized immigrant communities and our allies, are ready to continue resisting these xenophobic attacks.” concluded Arias.

“Rescinding Temporary Protected Status is not just a policy decision—it is a betrayal of humanity and our core American values,” said Fatima Saidi, Director of We Are All America. “The Supreme Court’s ruling abandons over 350,000 Venezuelans and puts their lives in danger—people who came here seeking safety. It also opens the door for further cruelty against Afghans, Haitians, Cameroonians, and so many others. The United States made a promise of protection. Breaking that promise now means sentencing entire deeply vulnerable communities to fear, instability, and possible persecution. We stand in unwavering solidarity with TPS holders—this fight is far from over!”

“The Supreme Court’s decision to end TPS for 350,000 Venezuelans is a betrayal of vulnerable migrants and sets a dangerous precedent for all TPS holders. This cruel ruling aligns with the anti-immigrant agenda that has targeted Black and brown migrants,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance.  “By rubber-stamping the termination of TPS without considering country conditions or migrant lives, SCOTUS has reduced the law to a heartless technicality—prioritizing deportation orders over human dignity.”

“The Central American Resource Center of Northern California (CARECEN SF) is deeply disheartened and alarmed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Monday, which allows the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans covered under the 2023 designation,” said Lariza Dugan-Cuadra, Executive Director of CARECEN SF. “This decision is a direct attack on the safety and dignity of nearly 350,000 Venezuelan nationals who’ve sought refuge in the United States from political persecution, violence, and economic collapse. These individuals are not only fleeing authoritarianism and the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela—they are essential members of our communities who work, pay taxes, raise families, and contribute to the fabric of this country. The Trump administration’s move to strip TPS recipients of their legal protections and work authorization is unjustified, and dangerous. The conditions that warranted Venezuela’s TPS designation remain and in many cases, have worsened. CARECEN SF calls on the Trump administration and Congress to act urgently to protect TPS holders, ensure due process, and uphold the humanitarian values TPS was designed to reflect. We stand in solidarity with Venezuelan communities and the greater immigrant community currently threatened by the current administration’s mass deportation agenda.”

“In a two-paragraph order, the Supreme Court sided with the US Administration and cancelled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for up to 350,000 Venezuelans. This is a sad day for Venezuelans who are in this country legally and arrived seeking only to work and find a better life for their families,” said Kim Lamberty, Executive Director of the Quixote Center. “The Administration’s rhetoric painting all Venezuelans as criminals and gang members is especially disturbing. Most are hardworking, honest people who cannot return to Venezuela safely. The future of TPS for Haitians is also working through the court system right now, and we are concerned about the 500,000 Haitians who may also be forced back to a country consumed by catastrophic violence and hunger. Our country has long been a refuge for the oppressed and vulnerable, and we are sad and disappointed about this major change in the identity and humanity of our country.”

“President Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans – now greenlit by the Supreme Court – is yet another blow to the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have come to the U.S. seeking safety,” said Amy Fischer, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director for Amnesty International USA. ”Our Venezuelan friends and neighbors contribute to our communities and make them more vibrant. But, President Trump is weaponizing xenophobia by singling them out, falsely labeling them as gang members with no evidence, implying that they are “invading,” the U.S., and even using the archaic Alien Enemies Act to arrest, detain, and remove people to a prison in El Salvador with documented human rights abuses. The ongoing human rights crisis in Venezuela shows that TPS is warranted, and Venezuelans cannot safely be returned. Nobody should be removed to Venezuela, period.”

“The Trump administration’s attacks on TPS place our immigrant neighbors at risk of being ripped from their communities and returned to countries where they face grave harm,” said Kate Jastram, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). “This week’s Supreme Court decision has upended the lives of over 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders and their families, who believed our government just a few months ago when it promised them safety and stability. We decry this administration’s racist attempts to smear Venezuelan TPS holders, and all refugees and immigrants, and we stand with our partners who continue to fight for their rights.”

“Cancelling TPS for Venezuelans will have unfathomable effects on families, American communities, and our local, state, and national economies. It is a decision that disregards the ongoing political repression, economic collapse, widespread human rights violations, and humanitarian crisis—marked by food and medicine shortages—that makes Venezuela unsafe for return,” said Reverend Noel Andersen, National Field Director at Church World Service, “The Trump administration has now stripped more than 300,000 people from work authorization and made them far more vulnerable to quick deportations. Many congregations linked to CWS are actively accompanying Venezuelans, and other TPS beneficiaries, feel the moral outrage at the lack of compassion or humanity from this administration’s policy choices. This will not make our communities safer; it will only hurt small businesses and key industries while creating chaos.”

“Cancelling TPS for Venezuelans despite their ongoing need for protection is a moral failure abandoning members of our communities who require ongoing protection from harm,” said Hannah Flamm, Interim Senior Director of Policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). “Revoking lawful status from hundreds of thousands of people will cause deep harm and chaos throughout the country.”

“Revoking TPS for Venezuelans is a decision that serves no purpose other than cruelty, and its consequences will be devastating – not only for people who have been offered safety and protection in the US but for our communities at large,” said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director at Refugee Congress. “This decision will sew chaos, damage local businesses, and weaken faith and trust in our institutions. These are not the values we hold as a country, and this decision must be reversed immediately, before causing any more irreparable harm.”

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The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign for asylum rights is composed of more than 129 organizations committed to transforming the way the United States receives and protects people forced to flee their homes to ensure they are treated humanely and fairly. To learn more about what we stand for, visit us online: https://wwdignity.org/solutions; to request an interview with an experts from the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, visit us here: welcomewithdignity.org