The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort to allow migrants who have claimed temporary humanitarian relief from deportation to obtain permanent residency.
In an increasingly rare, unanimous decision, the court states that the country’s immigration laws prevent migrants who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from seeking “green cards” to stay in the U.S. permanently.
The opinion, issued by liberal justice Elena Kagan, states, “The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant…eligible.”
The case stems from an El Salvadorian couple who entered the United States illegally in 1990. The two non-citizens have been living in the country for the past 31 years. They are a small sample of the estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. who claim TPS status from a dozen countries including El Salvador, Haiti, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, a state constantly on the frontlines of illegal immigration, celebrated the decision handed down from the Supreme Court.
“Supreme Court rules that immigration laws must actually be followed. A unanimous Court, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, explains that in order to apply for legal residency, you must have been admitted to the country lawfully. To stay here legally, you must come here legally,” he said in a tweet.
Supreme Court rules that immigration laws must actually be followed.
A unanimous Court, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, explains that in order to apply for legal residency, you must have been admitted to the country lawfully.
To stay here legally, you must come here legally. https://t.co/FrPgWjzeoD
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 7, 2021
Recently, the House of Representatives passed a law — on a largely partisan vote — that would alter current immigration rules to allow these individuals permanent residency. The bill, labeled H.R. 6, would provide a pathway to citizenship for those claiming TPS status in addition to children of illegal immigrants known as “DREAMers.”
The legislation is unlikely to pass the Senate.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
