US Supreme Court paves way for Trump’s mass deportation of Haitians and Syrians

The US Supreme Court on Thursday backed a Trump administration move to strip deportation protections from some 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the United States.

The conservative-dominated court, in a 6-3 ruling, said the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants was not subject to judicial review.

TPS protects its holders from deportation and is granted to people deemed to be in danger if they return home because of war, natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances.

Lawyers for Haitian and Syrian TPS holders contended during oral arguments before the court in April that conditions in their home countries remained unsafe and the administration’s move was motivated at least in part by racial hostility.

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in which he was joined by the five other conservative justices on the top court, rejected claims that race was a “motivating factor” in US President Donald Trump’s decision to strip Haitians of TPS status.

“None of the cited statements by either the president or the [Homeland Security] Secretary was overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications,” Alito said.