Supreme Court Just Cleared the Way to Deport 350,000 Nursing Home Workers. Here’s What Happens Next.

Washington, DC — The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major immigration win on June 25, ruling that federal law blocks courts from reviewing decisions to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitian and Syrian workers. For nursing homes, the decision removes the legal shield protecting caregivers who in some facilities make up 8 percent or more of the entire workforce.

The 6-3 ruling in Mullin v. Doe rejected arguments that the administration’s termination of TPS was motivated by unconstitutional racial animus. Justice Alito, writing for the majority, held that Homeland Security’s designation and termination decisions are largely beyond judicial review.

What It Means on the Ground

Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, called the decision a direct threat to care delivery. Staff and caregivers who support older adults every day can now lose their jobs overnight, she said in a statement. The loss of even a fraction of existing employees could force immediate operational decisions with direct consequences for residents.

Providers may have no choice but to limit nursing home admissions, close units, or turn away requests for home health services. The sudden loss of these valued team members will have an immediate impact on our nursing home communities, Colin O’Leary, executive director at Laurel Ridge Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center in Boston, told the Washington Post.

The Broader Workforce Impact

The ruling affects an estimated 350,000 Haitian and 6,000 Syrian TPS holders. Some protections remain for now — TPS designations for El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine, and Lebanon are still active through September 2026, and court-ordered stays protect holders from Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Burma. But the ruling significantly weakens the legal foundation for those protections.

By holding that TPS termination decisions are largely unreviewable, the Court has removed the primary legal backstop advocates and providers had relied on. Up to 1.3 million TPS holders across all countries are now at risk. The decision comes at a time when staffing accuracy is already under scrutiny at the federal level.

What Providers Should Watch

The Department of Homeland Security has not yet issued implementation guidance establishing operative departure deadlines for affected workers. Providers should not reverify or alter I-9 records for affected employees until DHS issues updated guidance.

The House passed H.R. 1689 in April to extend Haiti TPS through April 2029 on a bipartisan 224-204 vote. The Senate companion bill, S. 4814, has 19 Democrat co-sponsors but no scheduled floor vote and would need 60 votes to advance.

With the legal path now largely closed, the legislative route becomes the most viable remaining option — and the most urgent.