Recent Supreme Court decisions have raised important questions that affect our neighbors, our communities, and the families that we serve every day.

To help make this information accessible to everyone, we’ve gathered materials from our recent information session, including opening and closing remarks, an overview of the decisions, resources for staying informed, and ways you can help.

These issues are not abstract; they have real impacts on real people. Our response, grounded in our shared humanity and our values, calls for compassion, dignity, and resolve.

Whether you joined us for the session or are engaging with these issues for the first time, we hope these resources prove helpful. Thank you for being part of our community and for the many ways you continue to support our New American neighbors.

As many of you know, on Thursday, June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a decision impacting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the Haitian and Syrian communities. TPS is a legal immigration status granted to individuals who cannot safely return to countries facing war, disaster, or humanitarian crisis.

The Court ruled that:

• DHS may proceed with terminating TPS for Haiti and Syria because the law states that TPS determinations by DHS are not subject to judicial review. This means that courts do not have the authority to review these determinations.
• The equal protection claim brought by Haitian TPS holders is unlikely to succeed.

We will never fully understand the cruelty of today’s decision. While we do not question the Court’s authority, we are deeply shaken by the human impact of this ruling.

Our Haitian and Syrian neighbors are part of the fabric of our community here in Western Massachusetts. At Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, it is both our privilege and our sacred obligation to welcome them.

The Jewish community knows all too well the consequences of being turned away. Our history carries the pain of loved ones who were not granted refugee status when they needed it most. That memory guides our work today.

Our staff and lay leadership remain steadfast in our commitment to serve immigrant communities alongside all those who rely on us. And we hold onto hope for a day when our nation more fully reflects the values of human dignity and compassion.

It is important to emphasize that this decision is not effective immediately. The case will return to a lower federal court before any changes are implemented, a process expected to take approximately 30–32 days.

During this time:

• TPS status for Haitian and Syrian individuals remains valid
• Work authorization (EADs) remains valid

We are actively reaching out to clients who may be impacted and are here to support them every step of the way.

Here at JFSWM, we remain deeply committed to showing up for our neighbors with compassion, dignity, and resolve. Thank you for standing with us.

​Our newly renovated community space is now available for reservations. Featuring flexible meeting rooms, Wi-Fi, a kitchenette, and more, it’s designed to bring people together to connect and celebrate.

Fee waivers are available for Ethnic-Based Community Organizations (ECBO).

Go to the Reserve Our Community Space page to learn more.

We are delighted to share this significant legal victory protecting the rights and dignity of our clients and of refugees across the country.

We are deeply grateful to our partners in this case including the brave refugees participating, International Institute of New England, Democracy Forward, and International Refugee Assistance Project.

Together, we celebrate this important step toward ensuring that those who come to this country lawfully are treated with humanity and justice.

Click here to read the press release

Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts was pleased to provide the following statement of support for Governor Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s new state portal allowing residents to report misconduct by federal immigration enforcement.

Six refugees, Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, and the International Institute of New England (IINE), represented by Democracy Forward and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), filed a federal lawsuit challenging a sweeping new U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “Refugee Detention Policy” that directs the warrantless arrest and mandatory – and potentially indefinite – detention of lawfully admitted refugees who have lived in the United States for at least one year and have not yet adjusted their resident status or do not have a pending application for permanent resident or “green card” status – even though the government has no reason to believe that they are deportable or have committed any criminal violation.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenges two recent agency memoranda that reverse more than 45 years of settled practice and reinterpret federal immigration law to subject refugees to detention. Under the new policy, refugees who were lawfully admitted after extensive vetting, and who remain in lawful status, must be arrested without a warrant and detained even if they have not been charged with any crime or immigration violation. The policy reverses decades of settled agency guidance, which made clear that a refugee’s lack of adjustment to permanent resident status is not a lawful basis for arrest or detention.

“I fled death threats and waited nearly a decade to resettle as a refugee in the United States,” said plaintiff Mona C. “My family has worked hard to restart our lives, but now I am worried that ICE might arrest me. Who will take care of my children if I am arrested and detained? We came to the U.S. to live in peace and safety, not to relive the horrors of our past.”

“Refugee families often waited years for resettlement and were promised safety and an opportunity to build their lives here in the United States,” said Rabbi James Greene, CEO of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts. “With this policy, DHS is threatening them with arrest and detention for an indefinite period without any cause, crime, or reason. The Bible’s most often repeated commandment is to welcome the stranger – it is our central value and a pillar of Jewish tradition. To allow this policy to come into effect would be a rejection of the values that we most hold dear. We stand with our clients, and with all refugees who would be harmed by this horrific policy.”

The DHS policy letter puts resettled refugees in an impossible position–the government who once offered protection and a path to citizenship threatens to detain them while USCIS intentionally neglects reviewing and processing their green card applications. The policy retraumatizes and revictimizes community members who entered as refugees. “Moreover, it breaks the promise at the core of the refugee resettlement program—a program designed to support smooth and legal adjustment of status—and the refugees whom this program had promised a chance to restart their lives.” said Sara Bedford, COO of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts. “Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts has welcomed refugees for over 100 years – it is at the core of our mission and our work. Removing refugees from their families, ripping them away from communities where they are soccer coaches, teachers, healthcare workers, is fundamentally harmful. It would disrupt our work and our community so severely that it necessitated we step in as not just allies but advocates, to defend the rights and protections of our clients.”

Read the full press release here. Learn more about the case Jean A. et al v. Noem and access additional resources below.

Articles:

Boston Globe: Refugees, advocates challenge new DHS policy that could expand detention

NEPM: Jewish Family Service of WMass, 6 refugees, sue DHS over new Trump policy | New England Public Media

GBH: Massachusetts refugees and resettlement agencies sue Trump admin over new detention policy | GBH

IRAP News: https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/jean-a-v-noem-challenging-the-trump-administrations-nationwide-detention-of-refugees

Manchester Ink Link: Advocates call DHS refugee detention policy ‘unlawful’ in federal court challenge – Manchester Ink Link:

MASSLIVE: Suit filed to protect refugees from abrupt ICE arrests amid status reviews – masslive.com

MASSLIVE: WMASS Agency Six Refugees Sue DHS Over New Trump Policy

WWLP: Jewish Federation of Western Mass Backs Refugee Rights

Baptist News Global: ‘The administration is implementing policies hostile to refugees’ – Baptist News Global

NEPM: Constitutional rights in the age of ICE | New England Public Media

Press Releases:

Jewish Family Service of Western MA: JFS Joins Lawsuit to Block Federal Policy Targeting Lawfully Admitted Refugees

Jewish Federation of Western MA: Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts Affirms Moral Imperative to Welcome Refugees and Opposes Detention of Legally Admitted Refugees​​

References:

Read the DHS policy: In Newly Released Memo, DHS Claims Authority to Detain Refugees Who Have Not Applied for Green Cards After a Year | International Refugee Assistance Project

Read the lawsuit: Jean-A.-v.-Noem-filed-complaint.pdf