Lawfare strikes again: Rogue judge ignores SCOTUS, shields 500,000 from Trump’s immigration crackdown

Another district judge sought to block the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts by preventing the Department of Homeland Security from stripping Temporary Protected Status from over 500,000 immigrants, despite the administration’s recent Supreme Court victory.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced Friday that the agency would end TPS for Haiti on September 2, requiring more than half a million Haitian nationals in the U.S. to return to their home country. TPS was initially provided to Haitian nationals in 2010, and the federal government executed numerous redesignations extending the program through the Biden administration.

‘Universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts.’

Noem’s DHS argued that “Haiti no longer continues to meet the conditions for designation for TPS,” claiming that the Haitian government’s lack of control has resulted in “direct consequences for U.S. public safety.”

“Haitian gang members have already been identified among those who have entered the United States and, in some cases, have been apprehended by law enforcement for committing serious and violent crimes,” the DHS stated.

RELATED: Noem prepares to deport 500,000 immigrants from one long-troubled island

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform told Blaze News, “TPS is designed to protect people from extraordinary and temporary conditions preventing the return of a country’s nationals, provided that those foreign nationals remaining in the United States is not contrary to our national interest. Unfortunately, political instability in Haiti is neither extraordinary nor temporary. Moreover, Secretary Noem has made the determination that Haitian nationals remaining in the country is not in the national interest of the United States.”

The agency encouraged Haitian nationals to use the CBP Home app to return to their country of origin. The Trump administration has offered to provide immigrants a $1,000 exit bonus and to cover the cost of their return tickets.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn attempted to block the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haitian nationals. He claimed that Noem “cannot reconsider Haiti’s TPS designation in a way that takes effect before February 3, 2026, the expiration of the most recent previous extension.”

“Plaintiffs are likely to (and, indeed, do) succeed on the merits. Secretary Noem’s partial vacatur was in excess of her authority and was thus unlawful,” Cogan wrote.

In response to Cogan’s ruling, police analyst and Townhall columnist Phil Holloway noted that the “lawfare continues” against the Trump administration, which has faced numerous roadblocks from district judges.

RELATED: Massive Trump win! SCOTUS clears path to remove 500,000+ foreign nationals

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Cogan’s ruling followed President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court victory last week, in which justices limited the scope of district courts’ universal injunctions on executive action.

The Supreme Court wrote, “Universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts.”

Additionally, the high court in May granted the administration’s emergency appeal to terminate the TPS designation for Venezuelan nationals.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the ruling, stating, “Today’s SCOTUS decision is [a] win for the American people and the safety of our communities.”

“The Trump administration is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” she added.

The Supreme Court also cleared a path for the administration to revoke deportation protections for foreign nationals enrolled in the CHNV program, which, under former President Joe Biden’s leadership, allowed 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the U.S.

Mehlman stated, “SCOTUS has ruled the administration may proceed with revocation of TPS for Venezuelans, another country where there is political instability. And, just last week, SCOTUS ruled that universal injunctions from district court judges likely exceed their authority.”

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Blaze News, “It’s interesting to see lower-court judges continue to try to block the Trump administration’s rollback of inappropriate policies that were implemented by Biden, even after the Supreme Court threw out a similar lawsuit involving Venezuelan TPS and even after the Supreme Court has tried to quash these injunctions, which often are abuses of judicial authority.

“It looks like the predatory lawfare will continue and Trump will continue to flood the zone with new policies to address the problems created by his predecessor — because it’s necessary to restore the integrity of our laws and because this is what Americans voted for,” Vaughan continued. “Regardless of the lawsuits, Trump is right to cancel TPS for Haitians. Most of those who were given TPS under Biden had already been living in other countries with residency and work permits, so they had no need for protection in the United States. They can go back to those countries. Others can go back to Haiti and contribute to the future of their country with the skills and education they have been allowed to obtain here, often with subsidies from U.S. taxpayers.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to add a statement from Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!