Supreme Court Allows Deportations of 500,000 CHNV Nationals Despite Jackson-Sotomayor Dissents

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear the case of Chanel Nicholson, a Black entertainer who alleged racial discrimination by Houston-area strip clubs enforcing quotas on Black performers, ruling her claim was time-barred as the statute of limitations began with the initial incident in 2014. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, criticizing the majority for ignoring precedent that each discrete discriminatory act starts a new limitations clock. In a separate immigration case, the Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with deportations of over 500,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals previously protected under a Biden-era humanitarian parole program, overturning a lower court injunction. Justice Jackson, again joined by Sotomayor, dissented strongly, arguing the Court undervalued the severe harm to these individuals and improperly minimized the irreparable harm requirement for granting a stay. She emphasized that the government would suffer no harm by maintaining the parole program while legal claims proceed and highlighted the dangerous conditions in the immigrants' home countries. Jackson's dissents reflect her consistent focus on protecting individuals from systemic discrimination and harsh immigration enforcement policies.