In a massive reality check for the NGO industrial complex, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s bid to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. It turns out that words actually have meanings, and "temporary" is not a synonym for "indefinite lifetime pass to the United States." For years, left-wing activists and their allies in the lower courts operated under the assumption that once a country got designated for temporary emergency relief, it was a permanent subscription. SCOTUS just hit the delete button on that fantasy.

The legal drama surrounding this case has been a classic example of clown-world logic. Under the Immigration Act of 1990, the Secretary of Homeland Security has the clear, statutory power to grant temporary relief to foreign nationals when their home countries are going through a rough patch. But the law also explicitly states that the Secretary gets to decide when that emergency is over. Somehow, activist lawyers convinced lower-court judges that ending a temporary program was "arbitrary and capricious," leading to years of litigation designed to run out the clock on immigration enforcement.

With this ruling, the Supreme Court has finally restored some basic common sense to the executive branch's constitutional authority. Under Article II, the President and his administration are in charge of national security and foreign affairs. The idea that a random federal district judge can order the executive branch to keep an emergency immigration program running forever is an absolute joke. By siding with the administration, the high court has reaffirmed that the judiciary is not a super-legislature meant to micromanage our borders.

Predictably, the open-borders lobby is currently seething and coping at maximum levels. They are crying about the "cruelty" of enforcing the law, completely ignoring the fact that TPS was always meant to be a short-term band-aid, not a back-door legal immigration queue-jump. Continuing to extend these programs indefinitely is a slap in the face to every legal immigrant who actually waits in line, pays their dues, and respects our sovereignty. You can't just bypass the system because you managed to stay here long enough.

The administration's reviews of Haiti and Syria were perfectly legal and procedurally sound, despite the hysterical claims from the activist class. Yes, those countries have issues—shocker, much of the world does—but the U.S. immigration system is not a global rescue mission designed to empty out struggling nations at the expense of American taxpayers. The Secretary of Homeland Security made the call that the initial emergency conditions had evolved, and under the law, that call is final and not subject to judicial second-guessing.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security can finally do its job and begin the orderly wind-down of these programs. Affected individuals will have a transition period to get their affairs in order and either find another legal way to stay or prepare to pack their bags and head home. It’s called normal administrative procedure, and it happens in sovereign countries all over the world every single day, no matter how much the mainstream media tries to spin it as a human rights tragedy.

Corporate lobbyists are also crying about the potential loss of cheap labor, claiming that local economies will collapse without these work permits. This is the same old song and dance we hear every time the government tries to enforce our laws. The truth is, national sovereignty and the rule of law are far more important than corporate profit margins. A sovereign nation must have the guts to say "no" and enforce its borders, regardless of what the Chamber of Commerce or left-wing activists think.

This ruling also puts the ball squarely back in Congress’s court. If the open-borders crowd wants to give these populations permanent green cards, they need to actually get off their butts and pass a bill through the House and the Senate. Relying on activist judges to stretch executive actions beyond their breaking point was a lazy strategy, and it has officially failed. The Constitution wins, the law is being enforced, and the permanent-limbo party is officially over.

Ultimately, this is a massive W for the Trump administration and a great day for anyone who still believes in the rule of law. It proves that the administration’s legal team was right all along, and that the endless judicial roadblocks thrown up by activist lawyers were nothing more than a giant waste of taxpayer time and money. The message from the highest court in the land is loud and clear: temporary means temporary. Deal with it.

Sources: * U.S. Supreme Court (supremecourt.gov) * U.S. Department of Homeland Security (dhs.gov) * Congressional Research Service (crsreports.congress.gov) * U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov)