SCOTUS: Don't Give US Your Huddled Masses

Summary

What A Day – “SCOTUS: Don't Give US Your Huddled Masses”

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Host: Jane Coaston
Guest: Andrea Flores (Former Homeland Security and White House Official, Founder of Securing America’s Promise)

---

Overview

This episode delves into the Supreme Court’s consequential decisions on U.S. immigration policy, with a special focus on two landmark cases. Jane Coaston interviews Andrea Flores, an expert in immigration policy, for an in-depth analysis of what these rulings mean for asylum seekers, immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and the broader future of American immigration.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The State of US Immigration under Trump (00:00–01:01)

• Andrea Flores frames the current immigration landscape as heavily polarized and driven by the Trump administration’s restrictive priorities:

  "As long as Trump is in power and as long as Stephen Miller is in his White House, we don't have two parties thinking about how to fix the immigration system. We have one party that's trying to remove as many immigrants as possible. And then we have one party that doesn't have a clear answer yet." (00:00–00:24)

2. Current Headlines & Immigration in Context (01:02–06:41)

• The episode weaves in major news: foreign policy, budget priorities, and the fallout from both natural disasters and scam calls.
• Notably, the show underscores the contrast between the image of a welcoming America enjoyed by World Cup tourists and the harsh realities faced by migrants seeking safety.

3. Supreme Court’s Decisions Explained (06:42–09:05)

a) Asylum ‘Metering’ Policy (06:58–07:36)

• First ruling: The Court upholds the right of the government to engage in “metering,” turning away asylum seekers at entry points.

  “It is okay essentially for the government to continue to do that...but it's a bit of an odd case...this involves an asylum restriction from 2016, when right now asylum at the border is unilaterally suspended.” — Andrea Flores (06:58–07:36)

b) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) (07:47–09:05)

• Second, more impactful ruling: The President can unilaterally rescind TPS from 1.3 million people, with no judicial review.

  “The court decided that the President has the authority to terminate their legal status without judicial review from the courts, opening the door for what we know a lot of people are calling the biggest delegalization of immigrants we've seen in modern history.” — Andrea Flores (09:02–09:05)

4. Impact on Policy and Real Lives (12:19–13:58)

• On asylum: The law is now “barely surviving,” with physical and procedural barriers.
• On TPS: The decision imperils long-established residents and tens of thousands of families and businesses:

  “If you have TPS and you're from El Salvador, you've been here for three decades or more...The 1.3 million doesn't even impact all of the ties they have to our communities. TPS holders contribute $6 billion of revenue to the American economy per year. So it's a stunning decision.” — Andrea Flores (12:35–13:39)

5. The Court’s Reasoning & Underlying Racism (13:58–15:19)

• Jane and Andrea discuss the majority's dismissal of evidence of racial animus:

  “In the majority opinion...they said, like, oh, Trump's statements about, for instance, Haitians weren't racist...And the conservative justices are like, doesn't mean anything to me.” — Jane Coaston (13:58–14:28) “You could not be more textually racist than what President Trump has said about Haitians...None of the justices repeated those statements. Why? Because they're extremely racist.” — Andrea Flores (14:28–15:19)

6. What’s Next: Birthright Citizenship and the Court’s Patterns (15:19–16:54)

• Jane brings up the impending Supreme Court case challenging birthright citizenship. Andrea predicts the pattern will be to “balance” radical rulings with ones that seem institutionalist, but fears the majority may outline “a roadmap” for restricting birthright citizenship in the future.

  “That's kind of one of my fears because they've done that in the past...these are all the ways you can make this essentially legal.” — Andrea Flores (15:39–16:54)

7. Political Implications and Policy Deadlock (16:54–18:25)

• The responsibility now falls on Democrats to craft a real immigration agenda; TPS losses will be felt in key industries and communities:

  “Now the fact that 1.3 million more people will be undocumented is a governing issue for them...And I talk about Democrats because as long as Trump is in power and as long as Stephen Miller is in his White House, we don't have two parties thinking about how to fix the immigration system.” — Andrea Flores (17:17–18:24)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Court’s Refusal to Acknowledge Racism:
  “These conservative justices...will do anything but acknowledge racism on its face. It's just so consistent since they gutted the Voting Rights act and in their immigration cases, you could not be more textually racist than what President Trump has said about Haitians.” — Andrea Flores (14:28–15:19)

• On Congress and the Democratic Party:
  “For the last 10 years, they have not had a very clear immigration strategy...They used to be very clear in fighting for the legalization of the undocumented community...And they kind of came away from that in the Biden administration.” — Andrea Flores (17:17–18:25)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–00:24 – Andrea Flores sets the partisan context of immigration.
• 06:42–09:05 – Flores explains both major Supreme Court immigration decisions.
• 12:19–13:58 – Flores details the real-world impact on asylum and TPS holders.
• 13:58–15:19 – Discussion of the Court’s avoidance of race in its opinions.
• 15:19–16:54 – Analysis of upcoming birthright citizenship case and court strategies.
• 16:54–18:25 – Political fallout and the way forward for Democrats.

---

Summary Takeaway

This episode lays bare the stakes and human impacts of the Supreme Court’s immigration rulings: further restricting asylum and stripping long-protected TPS status from over a million residents. Andrea Flores, drawing on her frontline expertise, highlights the policy’s economic, legal, and humanitarian consequences. Both she and Jane Coaston express profound concern over the Supreme Court majority’s refusal to recognize explicit presidential racism and caution that the responsibility now falls squarely on Congress—especially Democrats—to respond. The decisions mark a turning point, threatening to increase the number of undocumented immigrants and destabilize communities, as the judiciary signals its deference to executive authority on immigration.

---

For listeners seeking clarity on one of the most important legal and policy battles of 2026, this episode offers substantive analysis, real-world context, and a pointed call for political action.

Transcript

[Andrea Flores]

As long as Trump is in power and as long as Stephen Miller is in his White House, we don't have two parties thinking about how to fix the immigration system. We have one party that's trying to remove as many immigrants as possible. And then we have one party that doesn't have a clear answer yet.

[Jane Coston]

I'm Jane Coston, and this is Wetter Day. This is the show that can't figure out why so many artists refuse to perform at the Definitely nonpartisan Freedom 250 Great American State Fair, which was, again, definitely not intended just for supporters of President Donald Trump. See, here's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explaining just how nonpartisan it is.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

Okay, to start this off, I think we have to give a big round of applause for our military band and singers. Way better than those libtards that canceled on us. So much better. Thank you, guys.

[Jane Coston]

But don't worry, the dozens of people in attendance also got to enjoy the musical stylings of Alexis Wilkins, better known as FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend. On today's show, we talk about the Supreme Court's crackdown on immigration with former Homeland Security and White House official Andrea Flores. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Thursday, June 25th.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

Nobody wants to be the president of Iran right now because they know they'll get their heads blown off if they don't do the right thing. This president has scared the living daylights out of Iran, and we're going to, I believe we will get a deal that brings peace to the Middle East.

[Jane Coston]

Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott's logic is blowing people's heads off in the name of peace. Do you really believe what you're saying, Rick? Well, no peace as of yet, but the White House has now formally requested $87.6 billion, mostly to replenish the Pentagon after the US attacked Iran. For reasons the Office of Management and Budget sent Congress the supplemental spending request Wednesday. The majority of the money is to cover expenses incurred by the Defense Department as part of Operation Epic Fury. It also allocates $11.1 billion to support American farmers, $1.4 billion for the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa, and $500 million to support the ongoing efforts, quote, to complete restoration and construction projects in and around Washington, D.C. you know Trump's real priority. 3,900 children were separated from their family.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

450,000 kids were lost.

[Andrea Flores]

Mr. Secretary.

[Jane Coston]

Mr. Secretary, do not interrupt.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

Don't you point your finger at me.

[Andrea Flores]

I will point my finger.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

Don't you be a hypocrite then. Then you be a threat. And you should be as upset about the 450,000 kids that were lost. You didn't say a word about it for four years. You never said a word. Mr. Secretary, could you put him in his place? For no yelling, put in your place.

[Jane Coston]

Sheesh. If you ever wonder why the government can't get shit done, that's your answer. Things get testy between Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen and Connecticut Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro during a House Appropriations Committee hearing today. Aside from repeatedly bringing up the Biden administration, Mullen told the committee that his department is reevaluating the 11 warehouses purchased under ex DHS Barbie Kristi Noem to use his immigration detention facilities. When Mullen came into office, he paused any new purchases, and according to the New York Times, federal officials have been looking at ways to offload some of them. During the hearing, Mullin said some of the warehouses just probably won't work and suggested a lack of, quote, due diligence when it came to purchasing them. If there's a bus somewhere, Mullen is throwing gnome under it.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

I had an opportunity to talk earlier this morning with Delsey Rodriguez, the acting president. We're obviously awaiting the we're already deploying search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia and Los Angeles. There'll be some others we'll add. That's their most immediate need right now, is search and rescue efforts.

[Jane Coston]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters how the US Is responding to deadly earthquakes in Venezuela. A South American country was hit by two powerful earthquakes overnight, killing at least 180 people, with hundreds of people still missing. The quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, were centered in the country's northernmost states, and the country will likely experience aftershocks over the next few days. In response, the United nations announced that it has deployed urban search and rescue teams to Venezuela, and the Trump administration sent a regional disaster assistance response team alongside search and rescue teams to provide support. If you're interested in helping the people of Venezuela recover from the quakes, we've put a link to some resources in the show. Notes if someone's calling you in the year 2026, it's probably a scammer. According to a new AP NORC survey, most Americans are inundated by scam attempts on a daily basis, but I'm sure you didn't need a poll to tell you that. Just check your call log. I just got one. Walking into the studio, 58% of US adults surveyed said they receive text messages, phone calls, emails, online messages, or online advertisements that they suspect are scams every single day. The poll, which was conducted in February, also found that about 3 in 10Americans have lost money or personal information to scams. I guess that's your sign to sit back, relax and turn your phone on. Do not disturb, at least for the remainder of our show. And that's the news. Let's talk about immigration in the US as you probably know by now, I've been loving the World cup, especially the scenes of foreign visitors enjoying our ranch dressing, breakfast chain restaurants, and more seriously, the general kindness and welcoming attitude of everyday Americans. It's been, in all honesty, extremely nice to see. But those World cup visitors could afford tickets, flights and hotels. And today, the Supreme Court left a very different message for people who come to the US for safety and leave. In two, six, three decisions, the court ruled that the Trump administration can block asylum seekers at the border and withdraw deportation protections from immigrants fleeing violence and war in their home countries. In short, while so many people are enjoying visits to the U.S. the court says that the people who need our country most may not be able to stay. So for more on how the court's decisions will shape US Immigration policy, I spoke to Andrea Flores. She's a former Homeland Security official under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and the founder of Securing America's Promise, a pro immigration newsletter. Andrea, welcome back to what a day.

[Andrea Flores]

Thanks for having me back.

[Jane Coston]

The Supreme Court made two major immigration decisions today, ruling on the Trump administration's changes to the U.S. policy on asylum and the Trump administration's deportation protections policies. Can you walk us through these decisions?

[Andrea Flores]

Yes. So the first one is a case about an asylum policy that was used under the Obama administration. I used to serve in the Obama administration, and it's about something called metering, where Border Patrol officers at ports of entry would turn back asylum seekers before they could get to the United States to claim asylum. And so what this court essentially said is that it is okay essentially for the government to continue to do that. But it's a bit of an odd case. I just want to say for listeners, you know, this involves an asylum restriction from 2016, when right now asylum at the border is unilaterally suspended.

[Jane Coston]

And if I remember correctly, the Biden administration withdrew that policy in 2021, but the Trump administration wanted to bring it back. Is that correct?

[Andrea Flores]

That's right. So when I was serving in the Biden White House in 2021, we knew metering was not an effective tool to manage the border at. But essentially, yes, President Trump wanted to bring it back, even though there are not a lot of asylum seekers at the border right now. But they are just trying to unilaterally end asylum as we know it. So they're fighting this sort of almost old policy they don't even need on a day to day basis because they are deporting anyone who tries to seek asylum at the border. This is a completion of a longer case, but it really opens the door to like, what on earth will Congress do with asylum policy? Because each president they like suspend it, ban it, temporarily, pause it. And we've just been going that way now really since the Obama administration. So it's a little bit more, I mean, it won't impact as many people as case number two, which is about Temporary Protected Status, which there are 1.3 million people with TPS protections living and working in the United States today. And the court decided that the President has the authority to terminate their legal status without judicial review from the courts, opening the door for what we know a lot of people are calling the biggest delegalization of immigrants we've seen in modern history.

[Jane Coston]

We'll get back to my conversation with Andrea Flores in a moment to talk about what the Court's decisions mean for the future of immigration in the U.S. but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. This podcast is sponsored by Casper. Casper makes reliable, high quality mattresses designed to deliver consistent, comfortable sleep night after night. Casper's mattresses are highly rated by Consumer Reports and out of 99 mattresses, Consumer Reports named Casper's the 1 Mattress their top rated all foam mattress of 2026. If you are in the market for a new mattress or a mattress Upgrade, head to Casper.com and save up to 30% on the mattress you deserve. Casper's mattresses are built to be durable and long lasting so you're not replacing your mattress every few years. Their products are designed to withstand the test of time, maintaining support and comfort over the long haul and Casper has their 100 night risk free trial so you can give Casper's mattress a try. Risk free, although with 110,000 five star reviews, I'm sure you're going to love it like I do. My Casper mattress has given me the best nights of sleep ever and I mean that seriously. There's no sponsor of this podcast whose product I use more than Casper. My mattress is there for me, literally on a daily, well, nightly basis right now, save up to 30% on mattresses and up to 35% on everything else. When you go to Casper.com one last time, that's C-A-S-P-E-R.com and save up to 30% on the mattress. You deserve what a day is Brought to you by Mill. We've had our mill food recycler in our office kitchen for a few months now and I still haven't gotten over how it's made the act of throwing food away simpler, cleaner and better for the planet. Mill is the odorless, effortless, fully automated food recycler. Potato peels, avocado pits, chicken bones, even dairy. Mill takes almost anything while you sleep. Mill quietly transforms your food scraps into nutrient rich shelf stable grounds. No mess, no smells, no fruit flies. Mill can process up to 10 pounds overnight and it can work for weeks before you even have to think about emptying it. You can use the grounds in your garden, add them to curbside compost, or MILL can even pick them up and get them to a small farm for you. Genuinely, our office kitchen has totally changed since we got our mill. We can just put our banana peels and lunch scraps into it and that's it. No mess, no smell. And we're doing something for the planet on a daily basis. Try mill risk free for 90 days and get $75 [e-mail] wad that's $75

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

[e-mail] Wad this podcast is sponsored by Made in Cookware. Made in partners with multi generational artisans and some of the world's best chefs to create professional quality cookware, knives and kitchen tools. Their products are trusted in Michelin starred restaurants worldwide and designed to perform just as well in your kitchen. From five ply stainless clad to carbon steel, every piece is built to last and made to actually make you a better cook. Discover award winning [e-mail]

[Jane Coston]

let's get back to my conversation with Andrea Flores. So how will both of these decisions impact US Immigration policy and practice? I know that they're quite different and one impacts people who haven't even gotten here yet. But what does this mean for immigration?

[Andrea Flores]

For the asylum case? It means that asylum law is barely surviving this administration, right? They've already suspended it at the border and now they can just physically block the few people who may even still make it to the border and still have some procedural right to seek protection. So that impacts people. As you said who haven't arrived. The second case actually impacts a population, in some cases of people who have been here since the 1990s. They have a lot of TPS holders. So say if you have TPS and you're from El Salvador, you've been here for three decades or more. And if you are from Haiti, you may have been holding TPS now since 2010. These are really long established immigrant communities who are living and working in American businesses. They've gotten married, they have kids. I mean, the 1.3 million doesn't even impact all of the ties that they have to our communities. And I think it's important for people to realize that TPS holders contribute $6 billion of revenue to the American economy per year. So it's a stunning decision. I'm still processing it myself as an immigration expert, because it's opposite of how immigration law should work. Most presidents try and make more people legal immigrants. Now we have a president who wants to grow the number of undocumented immigrants in order to deport them by going after this very long established bipartisan protection.

[Jane Coston]

And I don't know if you were as struck by this, but in the majority opinion in that decision, the conservative justices basically said, like, oh, Trump's statements about, for instance, Haitians weren't racist. They didn't have anything to do with racial animus. And you look at the minority opinions and they point out how he talked about how Haitians bring AIDS and are living in shithole countries. It was just a real, like, we're looking at the same thing. And the conservative justices are like, doesn't mean anything to me.

[Andrea Flores]

I mean, these conservative justices, and we saw this with the voting rights cases, will do anything but acknowledge racism on its face. It's just so consistent since they gutted the Voting Rights act and in their immigration cases, you could not be more textually racist than what President Trump has said about Haitians. And his Solicitor general in the arguments didn't even repeat those statements that he said. None of the justices repeated those statements. Why? Because they're extremely racist. And so that's why it's hard to believe. You know, they did create one exception. They said a court could review a constitutional claim about TPS being revoked. But if they already communicated out to every court that what Trump has said about Haitians is not racist, I don't know what kind of constitutional claim could protect TPS holders from having their legal status revoked and from them being deported.

[Jane Coston]

So we are almost at the end of the Supreme Court term, which feels like it began 3,000 years ago. But there are still a few big cases that have not been decided, including the challenge to the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. I know that reading tea leaves sucks, but what do you think the court is going to do in that case?

[Andrea Flores]

So reading Chief Justice Roberts strategy for many terms now, as a lawyer, he seems to like to pair something really controversial and bad with something that seems like really institutionalist and fair and neutral. Right. And so I suspect today was the far more radical, far reaching delegalization of 1.3 million people, and that we will likely see Roberts choose birthright to say we decide against the administration. You can't amend the Constitution with executive order, which is what he's trying to do. And this is well settled law now. You're right. Predicting things really is the worst because this court has made some pretty radical decisions this term going back to Clay and voting rights and this TPS decision. So I fear that they may side against the President, but create a roadmap for him to follow for how to change birthright citizenship. Anyway, that's kind of one of my fears because they've done that in the past. Justice Kavanaugh did that with racial profiling when they allowed the racial profiling by ICE agents to continue. Justice Kavanaugh said, these are all the ways you can make this essentially legal. So I fear there might be a win with like a. A roadmap going forward.

[Jane Coston]

What do you think the Court's decisions mean for US Immigration going forward? Because on the one hand, you have the Trump administration wanting to enact even more restrictive policies going forward, but on the other hand, you also have a Congress that doesn't want to do anything at all and a voting public that is largely in opposition to those policies. So what does this mean for the future?

[Andrea Flores]

What it means is that this is now firmly on the table for Democrats to figure out, quite honestly, because for the last 10 years, they have not had a very clear immigration strategy. But now the fact that 1.3 million more people will be undocumented is a governing issue for them. If they win back the House, there will be pressure there. There will be pressure today from advocates to take up bills to try and secure some form of legal status. They used to be very clear in fighting for the legalization of the undocumented community. That was core Democratic issue. And they kind of came away from that in the Biden administration. And I talk about Democrats because as long as Trump is in power and as long as Stephen Miller is in his White House, we don't have two parties thinking about how to fix the immigration system. We have one party that's trying to remove as many immigrants as possible, and then we have one party that doesn't have a clear answer yet. So it really is now a big issue for Dems. It'll be an issue in the midterms in some states. I mean, the decision today will decimate the healthcare industry in Miami. Like it will impact races across the country just because TPS holders are established and a lot of businesses employ them.

[Jane Coston]

Andrea, as always, thank you so much for joining me.

[Andrea Flores]

Thank you for having me.

[Jane Coston]

That was my conversation with Andrea Flores, founder of Securing America's Promise. Before we go, the Supreme Court is about to break for summer vacation and as usual, they're working up until the very last minute on some of the biggest decisions of our lives birthright citizenship, trans athletes, absentee ballots, and more. Constitutional law professors Kate, Melissa and Leah break down the most consequential decisions and the most consequential legal battles on strict scrutiny. New Episodes drop every Monday and keep an eye on your feed for emergency episodes. When the big opinions come out, watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, Leave a review subscribe Celebrate the wonders of air conditioning and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how there's been a lot of debate online as always about AC as Europe faces a massive heat wave. But it's clear that air conditioning saves lives and just makes life better. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe I'm Jane Coston and Fun Fact an early form of air conditioning was first in installed in the White House in 1881 to help President James Garfield recover from being shot. Unfortunately, it did not work because he was also being treated by having his wound expanded by a doctor whose name was Doctor What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Kaitlyn Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Hayley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had helped today from the Assuage. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer]

This podcast is sponsored by Made in Cookware, Made in partners with multi generational artisans and some of the world's best chefs to create professional quality cookware, knives and kitchen tools Their products are trusted in Michelin starred restaurants worldwide and designed to perform just as well in your kitchen. From five ply stainless clad to carbon steel, every piece is built to last and made to actually make you a better cook. Discover award winning [e-mail].