NNU condemns Supreme Court rulings on TPS and asylum

National Nurses United condemned two Supreme Court decisions on June 25, saying the rulings advance President Trump’s immigration agenda and threaten immigrants, health care workers, and public health. The union said the court’s actions ended Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians and also removed protections for asylum seekers.

TPS is a program intended to protect immigrants who are fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries. NNU said the court’s conservative majority sided with Trump and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in a 6-3 decision that could immediately place more than 350,000 Haitian people at risk of job loss and deportation to a country in crisis.

As the largest nurses union in the country, NNU said the issue is personal because many of its members are immigrants themselves. The union said it will not stand back while the Trump administration strips away protections for neighbors, coworkers, and family members who call the United States home. NNU also said the impact reaches deeply into health care, noting that there are more than 103,000 Haitian health care workers in the United States.

The union argued that the ruling will leave many more immigrants vulnerable to deportation, including registered nurses, other health care workers, teachers, airport workers, and other working people. NNU described the administration’s deportation effort as harmful and said the policy will further strain the health care workforce and worsen the nurse staffing crisis.

NNU said it participated in labor’s lawsuit against the Trump administration and that the decision will not stop its efforts to protect immigrant neighbors. The union called on the U.S. Senate to codify TPS status for Haitians by passing legislation led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey. NNU said it endorsed S. 4815/H.R. 1689, which would designate TPS for Haiti until 2029. The union also said the Pressley bill passed the House through a discharge petition in April with significant bipartisan support.

In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court issued another 6-3 decision to restrict asylum seekers from entering the United States. According to the union, the court ruled that immigration officials at the U.S.-Mexico border may turn away asylum seekers before they can apply for protection.

NNU said that change could force people fleeing violence and instability in their home countries into a waiting line at the border, increasing risks to health and safety. The union said nurses see the public health effects of that situation firsthand, pointing to the spread of communicable disease, the threat of dehydration, and the lack of consistent medical care.

The union said Black and brown immigrants are bearing the brunt of what it called Trump’s attack on the working class. NNU said these communities face discrimination, deportation, and, in some cases, death if forced to return to their countries of origin. The union also pointed to the Republican-led Congress approving an additional $70 billion for immigration enforcement, while the Trump administration creates more administrative barriers to entry and closes pathways to citizenship.

According to NNU, those developments should alarm labor unions, human rights organizations, and policymakers because they signal a ramping up of a deportation system aimed at removing people who oppose the Trump administration. The union said the court decisions are not the end of the fight and warned that, without pushback, they will only be the beginning.

National Nurses United said it will continue to support its communities and resist attacks on immigrants, nurses, and Black and brown people. The organization describes itself as the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, with more than 225,000 members nationwide. Its affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.