DHS Issues Statement Following Multiple Supreme Court Wins

WASHINGTON – The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement praising the United States Supreme Court for issuing three rulings that reaffirm several Trump Administration policies and decisions to secure the homeland and remove criminal illegal aliens from the country. “These three rulings are all victories for the rule of law and common sense,” said DHS General Counsel James Percival. “This includes barring aliens from applying for asylum if they haven’t set foot in the United States, making it easier to remove lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who commit a crime, and reaffirming that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was always supposed to be temporary and can be cancelled at the appropriate time. Thanks to these decisions, we now have several more important tools to continue securing our borders.” In Blanche v. Muk Choi Lau, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not have to have clear and convincing evidence that a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) has committed a crime involving “moral turpitude” before deeming the resident an applicant for admission. As a result, CBP will be allowed to defer inspections of LPRs who committed a crime until after they are convicted, which will then allow the conviction to be used as a justification for removal. In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that an alien who is standing in Mexico cannot be considered to have “arrived in the United States” by attempting and then failing to set foot on American soil. An alien is only considered to have successfully arrived when they cross the border. As a result, an alien who is standing in Mexico is not entitled to apply for asylum, nor is an immigration officer required to inspect them. This ruling reverses an opinion by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which initially declared that aliens outside the United States land border are eligible for asylum. In Mullin v. Doe, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Trump Administration can cancel the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for the countries of Syria and Haiti. The ruling further determined that federal law generally bars judicial review of any future TPS designation and termination decisions, and also determined that challengers to any such decisions are unlikely to succeed on claims that terminations are due to racial discrimination. These are only the most recent examples of activist judges trying and failing to thwart President Trump’s agenda, only to be overruled by the Supreme Court. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to uphold the law and keep the American people safe.