Source: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court this week removed another barrier to President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, authorizing the end of humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants. In a string of emergency interventions—seven in total since Trump returned to office in January—the court has largely sided with the administration’s efforts to rapidly expand mass deportations, even as it signals caution over the lack of due process for affected individuals.

In its latest moves, the court lifted injunctions that had blocked the termination of temporary legal status for more than 500,000 migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Just days earlier, a separate ruling allowed the administration to revoke “temporary protected status” for over 300,000 Venezuelans. These protections had been granted by former President Joe Biden for humanitarian reasons, but Trump’s administration has labeled them a magnet for illegal immigration.

While the conservative-majority court has supported Trump’s executive authority in immigration enforcement, it has occasionally drawn lines on procedural fairness. In some cases, justices have ruled the administration must honor constitutional guarantees of due process, complicating efforts to expedite deportations without hearings or legal representation.

Legal scholars say Trump’s approach represents a dramatic escalation in deportation policy. “This president has been more aggressive than any in modern U.S. history to quickly remove non-citizens,” said Kevin Johnson, a law professor at the University of California, Davis. “No president has been as willing to deport non-citizens without due process.”

The administration, however, defends its stance. “President Trump is acting within his lawful authority to deport illegal aliens and protect the American people,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, criticizing court decisions that “invented new due process rights” for undocumented migrants. As legal challenges continue in lower courts, Trump’s immigration crackdown is expected to remain a flashpoint in both judicial and political arenas.

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