Chicago braces for fallout as SCOTUS lets migrant protections end
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Buses used to warm migrants parked in front of the "designated landing zone" in Chicago in 2024. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way Friday for the Trump administration to rescind a Biden-era order that granted temporary protections for more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Why it matters: The court decision will affect thousands of migrants who were bused to Chicago before July 2023 and comes after a different ruling earlier this month allowed the administration to revoke protection for 350,000 Venezuelan nationals.
Zoom in: Officials estimated that since 2022, the city has welcomed over 50,000 migrants from the southern border.
- 30,000 of those are from Venezuela.
The big picture: The city and state shelled out millions of dollars to house Venezuelan migrants, which caused tensions between alders, communities and neighbors.
Flashback: Expanding who qualified for temporary protections was one of several requests politicians in blue states made to the Biden administration so migrants in shelters could start working sooner.
- Congress created Temporary Protection Status in 1990 to offer protections to migrants fleeing natural disasters or war in their home countries. The protections typically last two years at a time, though the federal government has authorized TPS holders from various countries to renew their protections several times.
What they're saying: "Without Temporary Protected Status, if somebody never applied for asylum, they are in fact eligible for deportation, and they're at risk for deportation," the Resurrection Project's Erendira Rendon told CBS Chicago.
The intrigue: The court's Friday ruling was unsigned, which usually happens when justices rule on emergency cases. It also means legal challenges to the reversal can continue in lower courts and possibly end up in front of the Supreme Court again.
- White House officials have said migrants are a public safety threat and a drain on the nation's resources.
Between the lines: This ruling comes as the Department of Homeland Security released a notice identifying hundreds of municipalities nationwide that have some sanctuary policy in place.
- Several of those cities and towns are in our area, including Chicago, Evanston, Skokie and Urbana.