Trump's Deportation Drive Gets Major Supreme Court Push Despite Birthright Citizenship Setback

Last Updated:July 01, 2026, 09:31 IST

A 6-3 US Supreme Court ruling has allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.

Despite losing his bid at the US Supreme Court to restrict birthright citizenship, US President Donald Trump has secured a series of court victories that are expected to significantly strengthen his administration’s deportation campaign.

The rulings have widened the number of immigrants who could now face removal from the United States. They also come as the White House pushes to fulfil one of Trump’s central election promises of increasing deportations.

The biggest impact is expected to be on immigrants covered under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programme and those who could be removed through the expedited removal process.

Supreme Court clears path on TPS

A 6-3 Supreme Court ruling has allowed the administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.

The decision also opens the door for the administration to withdraw TPS protections from people belonging to at least 11 other countries, potentially affecting nearly one million immigrants.

The court held that judges have limited authority to review decisions taken by the executive branch regarding the TPS programme.

The dispute comes after Trump repeatedly criticised Haitian immigrants. According to a Wall Street Journal report, administration officials are discussing ways to target Haitians who are now eligible for deportation while avoiding widespread public backlash.

Instead of conducting large-scale immigration raids in cities with sizeable Haitian populations, such as Springfield, Ohio, officials are considering using data and targeting tools. The discussions, however, are still at an early stage.

Appeals court allows expedited removals

In another major legal victory, an appeals court last week allowed the administration to proceed with expedited removal. The process enables authorities to deport immigrants without court hearings if they cannot prove they have lived in the United States for more than two years.

According to an estimate by the Migration Policy Institute, up to 622,000 people could be affected by the measure. Taken together, the two court rulings significantly expand the number of people who can now be targeted for deportation.

Mike Howell, president of the conservative Oversight Project, said the administration would have to increase deportation numbers to achieve its goals. “To achieve mass deportations, you need to focus on quantity. It’s time to move away from the ‘worst of the worst’ focus and broaden the aperture. They need to get the numbers up," he said as quoted by WSJ.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson declined to comment on future operations, saying the department does not discuss potential enforcement actions.

White House stands by deportation agenda

According to people familiar with internal discussions, the administration has been trying to avoid a repeat of the deadly immigration operation in Minneapolis while reassuring supporters that it remains committed to strict immigration enforcement.

The people also said that senior adviser Stephen Miller has privately agreed that any action against Haitian immigrants should avoid highly publicised raids.

Trump has recently spoken more openly about his immigration agenda after earlier lowering the public profile of the deportation drive. He praised his administration’s arrest and deportation numbers on Truth Social, although he remarked that discussing deportations did not “exactly sound NICE".

Trump also said advisers had told him that voters were no longer focused on border issues, despite his belief that immigration had helped him win elections.

According to polling compiled by the Cook Political Report, 52 per cent of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 44 per cent approve.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump remains committed to carrying out the immigration enforcement agenda on which he was elected and that deportations would increase with additional funding from Congress and recent court victories.

The Justice Department has also said it will prioritise prosecutions of people seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children.

Haitian community voices concern

Stephen Miller welcomed the Supreme Court ruling, calling it the result of a decade of effort.

Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival said people covered under TPS had long known that protections could end. The planned deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians, many of whom have lived under TPS protection since 2010, has raised concern among community organisations.

Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center and himself a TPS holder, said families were already seeking answers.

“Families have started asking us questions that we are not able to answer. It is the saddest day of my life," he said as quoted by Wall Street Journal.

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