It was no surprise when the Supreme Court determined that the present administration is within its rights to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to thousands of immigrants over the past 36 years. First signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, TPS was envisioned to be a temporary humanitarian immigration program for people who were seeking refuge from ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, and other native land conditions that threatened their lives and safety. Today, there are anywhere from 300,000 to 1.3 million people in the U.S. enrolled in this program. Because the program was meant to be a temporary accommodation, the Court found that the administration could legally terminate TPS status and, presumably, begin deportation proceedings.
Since 1990, successive administrations have allowed TPS recipients to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. The recent Supreme Court decision came about because of the current administration’s decision to revoke TPS for all those who have lived and flourished in the U.S. under this humanitarian immigration exception. This decision clears the way for the potential deportation of individuals and families who have called the U.S. home for twenty years or more.
In simple terms, these people have been contributing to the US economy to the tune of billions of dollars. They have become homeowners, taxpayers, and essential members of the fabric of our nation. They are employed in factories, restaurants, the building trades, nursing homes, and hospitals. In short, they have assimilated into the larger melting pot that is our nation. Their presence in the US does no harm but provides cadres of workers for positions that are often very hard to fill. Their departure will not only bring considerable harm to them but will also bring harm to our communities and to our economy. The implications of revoking TPS are catastrophic and cruel.
TPS was not created as a partisan win for Republicans or Democrats. It was created in a bipartisan way as an extension of the values synonymous with our history. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” This inscription from the base of the Statue of Liberty is all about compassion and generosity. Revoking TPS is diametrically opposed to this late-19th-century statement of American ideals and values.
The larger question of which TPS is one aspect is the overall immigration policy of our nation today. Since 1790, immigration laws and policies have been a mixed bag. From an open-door policy for Western Europeans through race-based exclusion policies and complex quota systems, immigration laws have reflected the social temperature of our citizenry. In 2026, there is no broadly articulated consensus of what immigration reform should look like for the present and future. This absence allows those with the loudest voices to politicize immigration reform for narrow, political gain while at the same time underscoring the absolute need for new ways of dealing with the immigration challenges that surround us.
Since 1990, both political parties have refused to address the clear and present conundrum that immigration reform demands. Revoking TPS is only the latest reminder that the status quo is doing no one any good. The paralysis we see in Washington is only the latest reflection of our nation’s social temperature.
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we need a revival of the best instincts of our forebears. The improvements in our nation have taken place because of the courage of people who stood against slavery, discrimination, sexism, jingoism, and isolationism. Instead of allowing demagogues to rule the day, courageous women and men have elevated compassion above cruelty, generosity above selfishness, and the common good above partisan interests. Overall, the recognition and pursuit for human dignity has been a core value for which so many have lived and died.
It is past time for the silent majority of compassionate Americans to rise up in defense of the values that have made our nation the beacon of freedom and opportunity that it has been.
Msgr. Garrity is a Senior Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish and High School in Lynn.