The justices vacated a Ninth Circuit ruling and ordered a fresh review under a later precedent. The order does not settle the applicants’ status.
The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a Ninth Circuit ruling in a case over Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans and sent the dispute back for reconsideration. The procedural order does not decide whether the applicants will retain protection permanently. It directs the appeals court to review the case in light of the Supreme Court’s later precedent in Mullin v. Doe.
The government asked the justices to use the GVR procedure: grant review, vacate the lower court’s decision and remand the case. The Ninth Circuit must now reconsider the dispute under Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. 324, which the federal government cited as the central basis for its request.
The dispute followed a January 2025 decision by the Department of Homeland Security to extend TPS protection for eligible Venezuelans by 18 months, through October 2, 2026. Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem later sought to end the extension before it expired. The National TPS Alliance and other beneficiaries challenged that move in court. In January, the Ninth Circuit ruled that federal law does not allow the executive branch to retroactively cancel an extension already in effect.
On July 9, Solicitor General John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to return the case through the GVR process. The plaintiffs said in August that they did not oppose that request under the new legal framework. The justices considered the case at a private conference on September 28. The order sends the dispute back to the appeals court but does not settle the beneficiaries’ future status or the related work authorizations.
The ruling comes weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, amid broader scrutiny of the Supreme Court’s role in election disputes. But this procedural order is limited to reconsideration of the TPS case. It does not determine the outcome of that dispute or any potential future election litigation.