TRUMP RENEWS EFFORT TO END PROTECTED STATUS FOR VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS AT SCOTUS . (PHOTO).

Trump renews effort to end protected status for Venezuelan migrants at SCOTUS 

The White House sharply criticized lower court judges on Friday for defying the Supreme Court in an emergency appeal seeking to remove protected status from nearly 300,000 Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. for the second time. The Trump administration framed the appeal as a necessary response to what it called persistent disobedience by lower courts, a recurring theme in President Donald Trump’s emergency filings before the justices.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that recent rulings represented “an ongoing parade of lower-court decisions” that undermined the federal court system by ignoring or defying the Supreme Court’s stay orders. Trump’s latest emergency petition—his 28th since January—requested that the justices allow his administration to terminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelan migrants facing unsafe conditions in their home country. In May, the Court had ruled 8-1 in favor of the administration on a similar request, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.

Since then, lower courts have intensified scrutiny of the administration’s actions. On Sept. 5, Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Chen found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem bypassed required review processes, labeling her actions unprecedented and illegal. The Ninth Circuit declined to stay Chen’s ruling, reasoning that the Supreme Court’s prior stay order offered minimal guidance and that the expanded record strengthened the migrants’ case.

Lower court judges have increasingly expressed frustration over the Supreme Court’s limited explanations on emergency requests, though the administration viewed this as defiance. Sauer emphasized that the Court’s orders are binding regardless of length, warning that ignoring them “is unacceptable.”

TPS provides protection to nationals from countries where violence or economic crises make deportation dangerous. Venezuelans constitute the largest group of TPS recipients in the U.S. Before leaving office, President Biden extended TPS for Venezuelans by 18 months. In February, Noem revoked this extension, ending TPS for nearly 350,000 migrants. Noem’s comments during a Fox News interview, in which she called Venezuelan immigrants “dirtbags” and implied gang involvement, prompted lawsuits from affected migrants and advocacy groups claiming the revocation was unlawful and racially motivated.

Judge Chen found that Noem’s statements and blanket actions against all beneficiaries relied on negative stereotypes, calling it “the classic example of racism.” The administration rejected these claims, arguing that Noem’s decisions were policy-based and that Chen had overstepped by interfering in executive prerogatives. Migrants countered that the case should focus on whether returning them to Venezuela would be unsafe, rather than national security concerns.

Sauer warned that allowing lower courts to ignore Supreme Court stays would encourage repeated emergency filings, undermining the authority of the Court’s rulings. The Supreme Court has not yet responded to the latest petition.