Supreme Court Allows Trump to Remove Protections from Thousands of Haitian and Syrian Immigrants

NBCNews.com:

The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove legal protections from thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants in the United States, meaning they could be subject to deportation. 

 

The court, on a 6-3 vote on ideological lines, ruled in favor of the administration, which asked to continue with its plan to strip Temporary Protected Status from about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. 

 

Writing for the majority, conservative Justice Samuel Alito said that judges overstepped their authority in second-guessing the administration’s decision. The court also rejected a claim that the decision to remove protections for Haitians was discriminatory.

So basically, the Supreme Court (as they should since "Temporary" means "temporary") ruled 6-3 in favor of the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Syria and Haiti. The conservative justices found that federal law limits judicial review of such TPS decisions and said the plaintiffs’ equal protection claim was unlikely to succeed. Congress created TPS in 1990 to provide temporary humanitarian relief for people unable to safely return home, but some designations lasted for decades. The ruling allows the administration to move forward with ending protections that lower liberal courts had previously blocked.

RELATED: Homeland Security Wins Big at Supreme Court on Immigration Issues

After a Litany of Issues, Trump Fires DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

CNN.com:

President Donald Trump said Thursday on social media he was firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and would name Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her. 

 

Trump thanked Noem for her service, saying in his Truth Social post she “has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!)” and that she “will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.” 

 

He said Mullin would take over the position March 31. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration will work to confirm Mullin “as quickly as possible.”

Despite bipartisan calls for her to resign for weeks now, one kept trying to give Kristi Noem the benefit of the doubt because its only been a year and change since she got the DHS post, she'd already been sidelined by Trump after that disastrous Minnesota press conference and of course it'd be a win for Democrats (who've long despised her), but to be fair the now-former DHS Secretary brought this firing onto herself. Indeed, a steady stream of controversies that ultimately made her position untenable. The most damaging crisis erupting after immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota led to the fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, whom Noem quickly labeled “domestic terrorists,” only for cellphone and body camera footage to cast doubt on her department’s account. Her refusal to apologize during congressional hearings alienated members of both parties. At the same time, lawmakers questioned her approval of luxury Gulfstream G700 jets for the Department of Homeland Security, including one reportedly equipped with a bedroom, while a vain, $220 million horseback-themed ad campaign urging migrants to self-deport reportedly angered Trump after he denied ever approving it. Combined with smaller but damaging optics controversies (from the “Blanketgate” incident involving noted numbskull/aide Corey Lewandowski to her widely criticized memoir anecdote about shooting the family dog) Noem’s tenure became defined by a long list conainging poor judgment and political liabilities that ultimately led to her firing.

RELATED: What we know about Noem’s new ‘Shield of the Americas’ role

Trump White House Distances Itself from Provocative Claims by Kristi Noem, Others on Alex Pretti Shooting

ABCNews.com:

President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt are distancing themselves from the provocative statements made by top administration officials in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti involving federal agents in Minneapolis. 

 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller quickly accused Pretti, an ICU nurse, of domestic terrorism after Saturday's shooting without citing any evidence. 

 

"Does the president agree with them?" ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Leavitt during Monday's press briefing. "Look, as I've said, I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way," Leavitt said. "However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts in the investigation lead itself."

Trump is unlikely to fire Kristi Noem anytime soon, partly because it’s still early in his administration, partly because she fits the alluring image he tends to favor, and partly because removing her would hand Democrats an easy win. That said, sidelining Noem may be a different story. Reports that she has had little communication with Tom Homan (who has far more hands-on experience with ICE operations and immigration enforcement), raise questions about internal coordination. At the same time, since Noem was made the border czar she often appears more focused on photo ops and cable news hits than on mastering policy details, which can undermine credibility on such a complex issue. If the administration wants tighter messaging and more effective execution on immigration, shifting more responsibility to seasoned operators (led by Homan) while reducing Noem's public-facing role could be a practical middle ground.

RELATED: Trump: Want to End Major ICE Operations? Make This One Change

Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson Calls Soldier's Murder an 'Unfortunate Accident' in Hearing Clash

Politico.com:

The Trump administration is seizing on a misstatement by the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee about the November shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington to skewer the lawmaker as unbothered by the tragedy. 

 

At a Thursday committee hearing on threats facing the United States, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member of the committee, initially called the shooting — which killed one service member and left another critically injured — an “unfortunate accident.” That misstatement immediately drew protest from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was testifying at the hearing alongside the head of the National Counterterrorism Center and a senior FBI official. 

 

“You think that was an unfortunate accident?” Noem said, notably offended. “That was a terrorist attack.” Thompson amended his comment to then describe the shooting as an unfortunate “situation.”

First, if this incident involved a Republican, it would be receiving far more media attention than it is now. Instead, the story has been framed as “Republicans pouncing” on Thompson, downplaying what was clearly an intentional statement (especially given his membership in a party long criticized for being soft on crime). Indeed, Thompson has been in politics long enough to know exactly what he was saying so this was not a slip of the tongue. He totally disrespected a murdered National Guardsman, and Secretary Noem had every right to be upset. But as usual, the liberal press is stepping in to shield Thompson from accountability.

RELATED: Noem defiant as Democrats decry Trump administration treatment of migrants