May 8 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether or not it can end temporary protected status for more than 500,000 people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The Biden administration granted temporary protected status for 532,000 people from those nations, which gives them the ability to work and live in the United States while they have protected status, NBC News reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wants to end their temporary protected status, which lasts for up to two years, but a lower court ruling blocked that effort.
U.S. District of Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani ruled the Trump administration can’t arbitrarily remove the protected status and instead must address each individual’s respective case before ending TPS and undertaking deportations.
Solicitor General John Sauer said Talwani “nullified one of the administration’s most consequential immigration policy decisions” and wants the Supreme Court to resolve the matter.
The Supreme Court has already received eight emergency requests filed by the Trump administration through March 28.
Many more cases are headed to the Supreme Court, which could swamp it with legal filings.
Federal district court judges have blocked Trump administration policies at least 17 times during President Donald Trump‘s first 100 days in office.
Many of those rulings have been overturned by appellate and Supreme Court rulings, but some also have been upheld.
Shortly after being sworn in as president on Jan. 20, Trump signed several executive orders, including ending TPS status for many.
President Joe Biden, days before leaving office, extended TPS protections for many people from Venezuela, Haiti, Venezuela, and other nations.
Trump ordered an end to their TPS status to undertake mass deportations of those who do not self-deport.