UUSC Denounces Supreme Court Decisions Endangering People in Migration

At UUSC, we know that all people should have the right to migrate. In a pair of rulings issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied that right and undermined human dignity. These decisions gravely impair the rights of asylum-seekers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and other people in migration.

In two decisions issued by a 6-3 ideological majority, the Court gave the Trump administration sweeping permission to deprive people of access to asylum and cancel temporary immigration protections designed to keep people safe. 

In the first opinion, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Court’s right-wing majority held that administration’s militarized border personnel can block people from entering ports of entry to request asylum, arbitrarily denying them access to their rights under both the federal asylum statute and the UN Refugee Convention. 

As a result of this ruling, more people face the threat of being trapped or returned to dangerous conditions, even when they face a credible threat of persecution or torture that qualifies them for relief under U.S. law. 

A second opinion, Mullin v. Doe, permits the executive branch to terminate TPS for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, and possibly people of many other nationalities, holding that the White House’s TPS decisions are unreviewable on most grounds. In reaching this decision, the Court overlooked voluminous evidence showing that the singling out of Haitian people and other TPS holders is blatantly arbitrary. 

The Trump administration repeatedly displays racism and xenophobia in discriminatory policy and rhetoric. Their actions are proof that the administration denies the rights and dignity of Black and brown people in migration. Yet today, the Supreme Court baselessly concluded that none of these prejudicial actions amount to a likely violation of Haitian TPS holders’ constitutional right to equal protection under the law. 

Combined, these opinions represent a devastating setback for the human rights of people in migration, their families, communities, and everyone who cares about justice and equality. 

As heartbreaking and infuriating as these unjust rulings are, TPS holders and asylum-seekers have inherent power and dignity. UUSC and our partners will continue to fight for justice. We applaud the leadership of frontline migration justice advocates, and we will join them in the next stages of the struggle. 

Since the Court has failed to vindicate the rights of people in migration, we turn to the legislature. We will join others and call on Congress to create a permanent solution for TPS holders and reinstate protections for asylum-seekers at our borders. 

Help us carry on the fight for migration justice by signing up for the UUSC Resistance Network today.