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The federal high court on Friday gave the green light to the Trump administration to remove immigration safeguards from over 300k Venezuelan migrants.

Emergency Order Issued

The justices enacted an temporary measure, which will remain in effect as long as the legal proceedings are ongoing, freezing a earlier judicial finding that had blocked the government from revoking TPS benefits for the Venezuelan nationals.

The progressive judges filed dissents.

Wider Protection Revocations

The executive branch has sought to revoke several immigration benefits that permit migrants to live in America and work legally, including terminating protected status for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and half a million Haitian nationals who were granted protection during the presidency of Joe Biden.

TPS is awarded for periods of 18 months.

Earlier Judicial Intervention

In May, the supreme court overturned a interim ruling that affected another 350,000 Venezuelans whose legal status lapsed earlier this year.

The justices offered no clarification at the time, which is standard in interim applications.

“The parallel conclusion that we reached in May is suitable here,” the court wrote in an unattributed ruling.

Impact on Migrants

Some protected individuals have been dismissed from work and homes while some have been detained and expelled after the justices intervened the prior occasion, attorneys representing Venezuelans told the court.

Judicial Dissent

“I see today’s decision as another serious abuse of our urgent case list,” Ketanji Brown Jackson stated. “Because, with all due respect, I cannot tolerate our frequent, unnecessary and harmful interference with ongoing litigation while individuals face grave consequences, I oppose.”

Background on TPS

Congress established TPS in 1990 to halt removals to countries undergoing environmental catastrophes, civil strife or further unsafe circumstances.

The classification can be issued by the homeland security secretary.

Earlier Judicial Determination

The district judge determined that the federal department acted “with unprecedented haste and in an unprecedented manner … for the preordained purpose of speeding up the end of Venezuela’s TPS benefits.”

In previous rejecting the administration's urgent request, an appellate justice wrote for a consensus judicial group that the district judge had determined that DHS made its “rulings beforehand and searched for a valid basis for those decisions subsequently”.

Judicial Reasoning

The government's lead attorney had asserted in the latest legal submission that the justices’ May order should similarly affect the ongoing proceedings.

“This case is well-known to the court and involves the more common and untenable situation of trial courts disregarding this court’s rulings on the emergency docket,” the counsel wrote.

The result, he said, is that the “latest ruling, just like the earlier ruling, halted the revocation and ending of TPS affecting in excess of 300,000 migrants based on baseless claims”.