The Supreme Court has delivered a pair of significant immigration victories for the Trump administration, and the political fallout from the left has been swift and fierce.
In back-to-back rulings, SCOTUS sided with the White House on two major fronts. The first was a 6-3 decision in Mullin v. Doe, ruling that Haitian and Syrian nationals holding Temporary Protected Status cannot use federal courts to delay losing that status once the administration revokes it. The second ruling determined that migrants turned away at the southern border before physically setting foot in the United States have no legal right to apply for asylum.
As originally reported, the decisions represent a meaningful expansion of executive power over immigration enforcement, and the reaction from Democrats was anything but measured.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul moved quickly, announcing that her state would designate “sensitive locations” to shield migrants, including Somalis and Haitians who have had their TPS status revoked, from ICE agents. She framed the defiance as a core New York value.
“This is New York. We fight back. We defend our people,” Hochul said. “For those who think they can come here and just tell us that that’s going to be the different way that it is, you got to get to us first.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams took it even further. The far-left official did not hold back in his condemnation of the rulings and the administration behind them.
This is another day in Trump’s America where we have someone in the White House who believes in fascist rules with a White supremacist lens,” Williams declared. He added, “He is doing that because his policies are based on treating people like they are not human beings, particularly if they’re Black and Brown.”
The TPS issue has long served as a flashpoint in the immigration debate, particularly given the political attention surrounding Haitian and Somali communities in the United States. With the Supreme Court now firmly backing the administration’s authority to revoke those protections and limit asylum access at the border, the legal landscape has shifted considerably. Democrats, for their part, appear ready to fight the battle on the ground, even if the courts are no longer on their side.