Morning! Today’s lead story by Abbie Vansickle and Adam Liptak is a particularly depressing one, I’m afraid, although before we get to it you might like to know that Elon Musk’s cuts to the government are currently killing about 103 people an hour and that he has, so far, killed about 203,886 children. He’s done so while high out of his mind on illegal drugs, and the President yesterday shook his hand in the Oval Office. There was a piece in the Times yesterday about a lovely little village outside Berlin where I think Musk might find a nice home. It all makes me sick to my stomach and I’m glad somebody appears to have given Musk a black eye over recent days. What’s the fair treatment for a man like this?

I have a few ideas but I won’t put them in writing or my father in law might give me another phone call to tell me he’s “worried about me,” and the consequences I might face for exercising my first amendment rights in a democracy, these days.

(*Hi, Mike! 👋🏻 I took your advice seriously! I even practiced my golf game yesterday for next weekend’s visit!)

Still, there’s more fresh news to contend with today as the Trump administration continues to destroy the fabric of American society. In this case the Supreme Court has permitted the Trump administration to terminate a Biden-era humanitarian program granting temporary residency to over 500,000 immigrants from nations experiencing war and political unrest. The unsigned order, lacking explanatory rationale, is typical of the Court's treatment of emergency applications and allows the administration to act while the appeals and possibly further judicial review unfold.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting alongside Justice Sonia Sotomayor, emphasized the immediate human impact of the decision: "The devastating consequences of allowing the government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending."

The ruling potentially subjects migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti to deportation, marking another emergency intervention by the Court into the Trump administration's efforts to undo Biden-era immigration policies.

The Supreme Court's temporary decision signifies a likelihood of the Trump administration prevailing in its case. Recently, the justices allowed the Trump administration to strip deportation safeguards from nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants under the “Temporary Protected Status” program. Now the justices have allowed the government to revoke humanitarian parole. That is:

In response to the ruling, Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, labeled the Biden-era parole program "disastrous," accusing the preceding administration of admitting "poorly vetted" migrants.

Meanwhile Karen Tumlin, founder of the nonprofit Justice Action Center, expressed grave concerns: "The Supreme Court has effectively greenlit deportation orders for an estimated half a million people, the largest such de-legalization in the modern era."

Humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status represent distinct albeit complementary mechanisms for settling migrants from troubled nations temporarily in the U.S., illustrating a long history of accommodating mass migrations — from nearly 200,000 Cubans during the 1960s to over 350,000 Southeast Asians post the Vietnam War. More recently, the Biden administration devised a humanitarian parole program in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Initially expanded for Venezuelans and later Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans amidst rising border crossings and legislative stalemate, Biden’s programs aimed to streamline immigrants’ legal entry rather than encourage illegal border crossings. Following implementation, border apprehensions from these nations considerably declined.

The humanitarian parole programs, however, encountered severe opposition from Republican lawmakers, who said migrants admitted under these programs were otherwise ineligible for legal entry, imposing financial burdens on states for healthcare, education, and law enforcement. Despite lawsuits from Republican-led states like Texas, courts upheld the legality of the parole programs.

I’ve spent a lot of time working for refugee and immigration organizations and should also point out that immigrants to this country always bring tremendous economic benefit. The idea that they “impose burdens” on states is racist and simply disinformation. I’d say “let me google that for you” but the truth is, numbers rarely change people’s minds when they’re determined to repeat lies, especially about people who have come to this country from elsewhere.

Trump swiftly sought to end humanitarian parole for migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti when he returned to office, while maintaining status quo for 240,000 Ukrainians, albeit pausing on new applications under their program.

A Massachusetts judge pause the administration's revocation in April, contending Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacked authority for categorical revocation without individual case reviews. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld this temporary block, highlighting inadequate "strong showing" by Noem for her "categorical termination.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, in an emergency Supreme Court application, defended Noem’s broad discretion over immigration decisions per federal law. He reasoned the lower court’s blockage disrupted "critical immigration policies” deterring illegal entry, undoing "democratically approved policies.”

Supporters of migrants countered, arguing Noem's revocation exceeded legal authority boundaries and siding with Trump’s termination would inflict "needless human suffering,” although as we’ve come to realize, that’s the general policy of the Trump administration, to inflict as much of it as possible.

Thanks for letting me read the newspaper so that you don’t have to.

Say, is there a story that might cheer me up a bit?

I’m not sure, to be honest. Today was a rough one. And tonight, things could turn ugly in New York when the Knicks get beaten in Indiana. Unless of course you believe in miracles, as I would like to. Still, I think I’ll probably stay indoors.

Matt Davis lives in Manhattan with his wife and kid.

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