World Relief Responds to SCOTUS Decisions Regarding TPS for Haitians and Syrians, Asylum Processing

Global Christian humanitarian organization and refugee resettlement agency addresses multi-faceted implications of each ruling 

Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255

BALTIMORE, Md. – Thursday, June 25, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two rulings impacting populations World Relief serves: a decision regarding the joint case evaluating Mullin v. Dahlia Doe and Trump v. Miot, and a decision regarding Mullin v. Al Otro Lado. 

SCOTUS’s 6-3 ruling on Mullin v. Dahlia Doe and Trump v. Miot allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to proceed with the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians living in the U.S., determining that the termination was within the purview of the executive branch. World Relief disagrees with the premise of former Secretary of Homeland Security Noem’s decision – that Haiti and Syria are safe enough for TPS holders to return – and laments the impact this decision will have on hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families. World Relief urges Secretary of Homeland Security Mullin to reconsider these revocations and asks the Senate to pass the House-approved bill to reinstate protections for vulnerable Haitians. 

“We’re grateful for the recent extension of TPS for individuals from Lebanon, and we urge Secretary Mullin to consider a similar extension for Haiti and Syria,” commented Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief. “In addition to concern over in-country conditions, forcibly returning Haitians living abroad would unnecessarily separate families whose children are U.S. citizens. Rather than foisting that awful choice on parents, many of whose lawful work in the United States is both contributing to the U.S. economy and helping to sustain their family members still in Haiti, we urge Americans to partner with World Relief and our local church partners to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti with compassion, working toward a future where no one feels the need to leave their homeland.” 

Roughly 330,000 Haitians have been residing and working lawfully under TPS, some since it was first designated after the devastating earthquake that occurred in 2010, while others have arrived more recently, fleeing the instability that has reigned over the country since the assassination of Haiti’s president in 2021. In recent months, unstable conditions were exacerbated by extensive damage wrecked by Hurricane Melissa. TPS was first designated for Syrians in 2012 in the midst of a civil war and subsequently renewed several times, in parallel to the refugee crisis. Drought has exacerbated a severe hunger crisis, layering on top of political instability. Roughly 3,900 Syrians with TPS will be impacted by today’s decision. 

“Haiti has been in a protracted state of emergency for many years,” notes World Relief Haiti country director Pascal Bimenyimana. “As recently as April 2026, the U.S. Department of State renewed its  warning to Americans not to travel to Haiti ‘for ANY reason’ due to ‘kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited healthcare.’ To return hundreds of thousands of Haitians who have been residing lawfully in the United States to Haiti now would be inhumane, exacerbating the crisis facing the resilient Haitian people.”  

Haiti has long ranked as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. World Relief has been working on the ground in Haiti since 1988, in addition to serving Haitian refugees, humanitarian parolees, asylum seekers and asylees in the U.S. in partnership with local churches. 

“When you ask most Americans to identify some of the most fragile countries in the world, many would name Haiti and Syria,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief. “While TPS protections are certainly intended to be temporary, unfortunately, some crises are not. When that happens, we have a responsibility to honor our commitments to law-abiding, tax-paying residents who have become beloved members of our community – and for whom returning home would mean entering into untenable chaos, potentially tearing apart families whose U.S. citizen children are admonished by the State Department not to travel to their parents’ countries of origin.” 

In a separate ruling on Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, SCOTUS made a decision impacting due process for asylum seekers who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, essentially allowing the process of “metering,” requiring those intending to seek asylum to wait in Mexico, often for long periods of time. World Relief urges Congress to take up legislation restarting the asylum process. 

Greene commented, “The current reality is that those with a well-founded fear of persecution, including for reasons specifically mentioned in U.S. law such as their faith, are shut out from seeking asylum in the United States. While ‘metering’ forced those who had fled persecution to wait outside the U.S. for the opportunity to seek asylum lawfully at a port of entry, the current situation is even more stark, with essentially no process to seek asylum in the United States. We affirm the role of the government in managing the processing of asylum cases, but the operative part is the active management of those cases. We urge Congress to assume their proper authority by passing a legislative solution that addresses the current backlog of asylum cases while restarting the processing of credible asylum petitions, ensuring due process and justice for each individual.” 

To engage in advocacy alongside World Relief, visit worldrelief.org.