Supreme Court Upholds Trump's Termination of TPS for Haitians and Syrians; Judicial Review Sharply Curbed but Not Wholly Eliminated

On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Mullin v. Doe, a consolidation of two cases challenging the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and Syria. By a 6-3 vote, the Court held that the TPS statute's judicial-review bar—codified at 8 U.S.C. §1254a(b)(5)(A)—forecloses non-constitutional challenges to the Secretary's termination decisions. This means that arguments based on the administrative record, such as claims that the Secretary ignored country conditions contradicting his determination, cannot be heard in federal court.

The ruling, authored by Justice Alito, makes clear that constitutional claims are not barred. The majority opinion expressly notes that the bar applies only to non-constitutional claims, and the Court separately addressed and rejected the equal protection claim raised by the Haitian plaintiffs (the Miot group). Justice Alito wrote that while the plaintiffs' race-based theory was cognizable, it was unlikely to succeed because the administration's opposition to the TPS program is a race-neutral justification for the termination. The three liberal justices dissented, arguing that the majority's reading of the bar is too broad and that the Court should have allowed the claims to proceed.

For the approximately 450,000 Haitians and thousands of Syrians who had been relying on TPS, the practical effect is devastating. The State Department's own travel advisory continues to warn against travel to Haiti due to extreme violence, political instability, and economic collapse. Yet the Court has given the green light to terminate protections and initiate removal proceedings. The decision does not, however, grant the executive branch unchecked power over TPS; constitutional challenges remain possible, and plaintiffs may still bring claims that the termination violates equal protection or due process. The burden now shifts to Congress to codify objective criteria for TPS terminations—requiring the Secretary to base decisions on verifiable country conditions rather than policy preferences—or to state and local governments to enact non-cooperation policies to protect their residents.