The Supreme Court heard arguments April 29 on whether Trump can end TPS for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. Ruby Powers explains what’s at stake for Houston, and what TPS holders should do right now.
What Happened at the Supreme Court Yesterday
On April 29, 2026, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two consolidated cases — Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot — that will determine whether the Trump administration can strip Temporary Protected Status from hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals living and working legally in the United States.
A decision is expected by late June. And while the cases formally concern 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, the ruling could have sweeping consequences for the approximately 1.3 million people from 17 countries who currently hold TPS — including a large population of Venezuelans right here in Houston.
Ruby Powers, founder of Powers Law Group and one of Houston’s most prominent immigration attorneys, appeared on Houston Matters this morning to explain what the Court heard, what it means, and what TPS holders should do right now.
What Is TPS, and Why Does It Matter?
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian program the United States created in 1990. It provides legal protection to people from countries experiencing war, natural disasters, or other catastrophic conditions — allowing them to live and work legally in the United States while those conditions persist.
“It’s usually when something has gone wrong — civil unrest, earthquake, mudslides, some kind of natural disaster in those countries, and we temporarily allow them to stay here,” Powers explained on Houston Matters. “They get work authorizations, usually in periods of 18 months, and they have to renew it.”
TPS is not a path to permanent residency or citizenship on its own. But for many recipients, it has become the foundation of a legal life in the United States — sometimes extending for decades as conditions in home countries have not improved.
“When they say temporary, we’ve seen some of them extend for 20, 30 years,” Powers said. “And they now have US citizen children and things like that.”
Haiti’s TPS designation dates to 2010, following the catastrophic earthquake that killed an estimated 220,000 people. Syria’s began in 2012, amid the outbreak of civil war. Both countries remain in crisis today. The State Department currently warns US citizens not to travel to either Haiti or Syria due to severe violence, instability, and limited access to basic services.
Why the Cases Are Before the Supreme Court
When Kristi Noem served as Homeland Security Secretary, she terminated TPS for Haiti and Syria — declaring that conditions in both countries had “improved” and that the program had been “abused and exploited.” The State Department signed off with a two-sentence statement, despite its own travel advisories warning Americans to avoid both nations.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Powers said this morning. “Every time this administration is discontinuing a TPS, you just Google that country and there’s still a whole bunch of stuff going on over there. And you look at our Department of State and it says, don’t go to this country right now. And you’re like — well, then why are we discontinuing TPS?”
Lower courts found that the termination appeared to be motivated in part by racial animus, in violation of equal protection guarantees — and blocked the administration from proceeding. The Trump administration appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.
There are two major legal questions now before the Court. The first: was the termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria legally valid, or was it pretextual and discriminatory? The second — and potentially more consequential — question: can courts review this kind of executive decision at all? The Trump administration argues that the TPS statute broadly bars judicial review, meaning that if it wins on that argument, courts could lose their ability to check future TPS terminations entirely.
“It’s really not just about TPS,” Powers said. “Whatever happens, this is going to impact very likely all the other TPS cases that exist in the country.”
What It Means for Houston, and for Texas
Houston is not an abstract bystander in this case. It is one of the most directly affected cities in the country.
Nearly one in four Houstonians is foreign-born. Immigrants make up roughly one-third of the Houston area workforce — and in key sectors, far more: half of all construction workers in Houston are immigrants, as are more than a third of workers in manufacturing, professional services, and hospitality.
TPS holders are concentrated precisely in those sectors. Haitian TPS holders alone contribute approximately $6 billion annually to the US economy. According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, TPS holders contributed $4.3 billion to Texas GDP in 2023. The Greater Houston Partnership has identified immigration policy as a federal priority specifically because one in five Texas businesses has reported difficulty hiring due to immigration-related factors.
And it is not only the economy. TPS protects the parents of more than 260,000 US citizen children in Texas. In mixed-status households across Harris County — which has one of the largest Haitian and Venezuelan TPS populations in the state — a ruling against TPS holders would mean family separation for children who are American citizens by birth.
“There’s probably a lot of employers and businesses listening, and they’re like, oh my goodness, I have a lot of TPS recipients on my payroll,” Powers said on Houston Matters. “And if their work authorization is discontinued, that’s going to be a problem.”
How Is the Court Likely to Rule?
Powers offered her read of the oral arguments directly: “I think it’s favorable to the TPS recipients. But time will tell. There’s a lot on the line with this.”
She also drew a parallel to one of the most consequential immigration cases of recent years. “It’s sort of similar to what happened with DACA when it went up to the Supreme Court,” she said — referring to the 2020 ruling in which the Court found that the Trump administration’s first-term effort to end DACA was procedurally flawed.
The Court’s decision, expected by late June 2026, could take several forms. It could uphold the terminations and allow deportations to proceed to countries the US government itself considers too dangerous for American citizens to visit. It could strike down the terminations based on equal protection grounds. Or it could rule on the narrower procedural question of whether courts can review these decisions at all — a ruling that would have implications far beyond TPS.
“Depending on the decision, it’s going to have a snowball effect,” Powers said. “If they do a more broad decision, that could then include, notably, a large population of Venezuelans here in Houston.”
What TPS Holders Should Do Right Now
The ruling will not come until late June. But Powers was clear this morning that waiting passively is not the right approach.
“I would have a consultation, have a plan, have a backup plan,” she said. “Don’t assume things either way at this moment. It could be very — unfortunately, it’s very fluid right now.”
For current TPS holders, the immediate practical reality is this: your status has not changed. TPS for Haitians and Syrians remains in effect while the Court considers the case. But the window for exploring your options — whether that means pursuing a pending family petition, an employment-based pathway, or another form of relief — is now, before a decision forces your hand.
“Have a consultation, have a backup plan, know what your rights are,” Powers said.
If the Court rules against TPS holders, there will likely be a short grace period — Powers estimated 30 to 60 days — before terminations take effect. That is not enough time to build a legal strategy from scratch. The time to act is before the ruling, not after.
Powers Law Group Is Here
Ruby Powers and the team at Powers Law Group represent TPS holders across Texas — from Houston to San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley — in consultations, renewal filings, and the exploration of alternative immigration pathways. If you have TPS from Haiti, Venezuela, Syria, El Salvador, Ukraine, or any other designated country, we can help you understand exactly where you stand and what your options are.
The Supreme Court’s decision will come by late June. Your consultation can happen today. Contact Powers Law Group to schedule yours.
Sources
- Houston Matters, Ruby Powers on the Supreme Court TPS Hearing, April 29, 2026. Houston Public Media.
- SCOTUSblog, Mullin v. Doe / Trump v. Miot — Case Page and Oral Argument Coverage, April 29, 2026. https://www.scotusblog.com
- NPR, Supreme Court Weighs Trump’s Effort to End TPS for Haitians, Syrians, April 29, 2026. https://www.npr.org
- NBC News, Supreme Court Weighs Trump Attempt to Remove Protections from Thousands of Haitian and Syrian Immigrants, April 29, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com
- Washington Post, Supreme Court to Hear Lawsuits by Immigrants with TPS, April 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com
- Al Jazeera, US Supreme Court Hears Haiti, Syria TPS Case With Wide-Ranging Implications, April 29, 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com
- American Immigration Council, Prolonged Limbo for Haitian TPS Holders, 2026. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
- Penn Wharton Budget Model, TPS Holders’ Contribution to Texas GDP, 2023. https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu
- Greater Houston Partnership, Immigration as a Federal Policy Priority, 2025. https://www.houston.org
- Powers Law Group, The House Just Voted to Protect 330,000 Haitians From Deportation — Here’s What Happens Next, April 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
