350K TPS Workers at Risk: HR Must Prepare for I-9 Reverification After SCOTUS Ruling

For HR professionals, this ruling creates an urgent, two-sided compliance challenge: you must prepare for a potential wave of I-9 reverifications affecting thousands of employees, while simultaneously ensuring that no worker is wrongfully terminated or penalized based on a court decision that has not yet evolved into an actual employment authorization expiration. It’s a delicate balancing act that requires immediate workforce auditing, clear internal communication, and a thorough understanding of alternative work visa options.

In a landmark 6-3 decision on June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court in Mullin v. Doe (consolidated with Trump v. Miot) removed the judicial roadblocks that had prevented the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. The ruling held that the Immigration and Nationality Act’s TPS provisions preclude judicial review of most nonconstitutional challenges to a Secretary’s decision to designate, extend, or terminate a country’s TPS. It also found the plaintiffs challenging Haiti’s TPS termination unlikely to succeed on their equal protection claim, thus dissolving the preliminary injunctions issued by lower courts. This decision directly affects approximately 350,000 Haitian nationals and 6,000 Syrian nationals currently residing in the United States under TPS, along with thousands of U.S. employers who rely on their work-authorized status.

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Miot) removed the judicial roadblocks that had prevented the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria.

The Court’s ruling does not, however, immediately revoke work authorization or set a new termination date. USCIS currently lists July 1, 2026, as the E-Verify work authorization expiration date for Haiti and Syria TPS holders, but DHS retains full discretion to adopt, modify, or replace that date through formal guidance. The crux of the decision is jurisdictional: it strips federal courts of the ability to second-guess the Secretary’s policy determination that conditions in a designated country no longer warrant TPS, unless a constitutional violation is plausibly alleged. By wiping away the lower court injunctions, the decision clears the procedural path for DHS to proceed with termination, but the agency must still publish a Federal Register notice specifying the effective date and any wind-down periods before work authorization expires.

For employers, the immediate message is wait and see. Form I-9 rules require employers to reverify employment authorization when a worker’s TPS-based Employment Authorization Document (EAD) expires, but the actual expiration date remains a moving target. Taking adverse action based solely on the Supreme Court ruling could expose employers to discrimination or wrongful termination claims, as the underlying EADs remain valid until DHS says otherwise. Prudent companies are now auditing their workforce to identify employees whose eligibility hinges on Haiti or Syria TPS, monitoring USCIS and Federal Register updates, and exploring alternative visa pathways—such as H-2B, asylum, or adjustment of status—for critical workers they hope to retain. Immigration practitioners are advising clients to prepare I-9 reverification workflows in advance but refrain from executing them until the agency provides a definitive timeline.