When the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 this week to allow President Donald Trump’s administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, one vote drew particular attention: that of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
It’s no surprise that the Trump-appointed justice joined the court’s conservative majority, but renewed attention is shifting to her, given Barrett’s personal connections to the controversial ruling. The justice is the adoptive mother of two children born in Haiti, the same country whose migrants are expected to lose humanitarian protections under the new ruling.
Until Thursday (June 25), millions of Haitian and Syrian migrants were working, living and contributing to American society. We previously told you Trump vowed to end TPS for these groups, which came after months of the president’s attacks against the communities. We all remember the “eating the cats, eating the dogs” false claim Trump made in 2024.
Now, it seems his plan to terminate TPS for millions has SCOTUS‘ stamp of approval… and he couldn’t have done it without Barrett’s help.
For some immigration advocates, Barrett’s vote highlighted what they described as a striking contrast. Barrett has been outspoken about her family’s connection to Haiti through her two adoptive children. During her 2020 Senate confirmation hearings, Barrett spoke about all seven of her children, especially noting the struggles her Haitian kids endured before adoption.
Her daughter, Vivienne, “came to them from Haiti. When she arrived, she was so weak and told she might never talk or walk normally,” Barrett said. “But now she deadlifts as much as the male athletes in our gym.”
Barrett and her husband adopted Vivienne following a 2004 visit to an orphanage in Pétion-ville. She was only 14 months old, according to The Haitian Times. Her son, John Peter, was adopted at 3 years old after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
While a justice’s personal experiences are not expected to dictate judicial decisions, Barrett’s family dynamic is striking concern from critics who say she is perpetuating “white savior” narratives. Other conservative justices were accused of advancing white supremacist agendas, according to the Guardian.
With Barrett joining the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, the Trump administration plans to end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians while legal challenges continue. The decision was widely viewed as a major victory for the administration’s controversial immigration agenda.
The debate over TPS has divided the country for months. Many argue that Haiti remains plagued by gang violence, political instability and humanitarian crises. And Thursday’s ruling could place vulnerable families at greater risk if deportations resume.
The court’s majority, however, wrote in an opinion, “Ironically, respondents themselves offer a race-neutral explanation for the Government’s action: namely, that the current administration, which has terminated every TPS designation that has come up for renewal, simply opposes the TPS program as it has been implemented in the past.”
The court’s three liberal justices dissented, saying the Haitian and Syrian TPS nationals “ask for only one thing: that they may stay in this country while they continue to litigate their claims. … [T]hey are entitled to that relief, and should not instead be consigned to devastating, and indeed life-threatening, injury.”
