The Supreme Court gives us one more reason to hope hell exists

The lawless Supreme Court has predictably given Donald Trump, its lord and master, the go-ahead to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian people who have been in the U.S. legally, in some cases for well over a decade, making lives, raising children, and contributing to communities.

Trump's intention here is deeply racist, and the Supreme Court majority endorses that, as Elie Mystal and Madiba Dennie, among other legal analysts, point out. 

I'm not here to talk about the law. I'm here to talk about the human impact. I live in the Boston area, which has one of the largest Haitian populations in the U.S. This decision targets people in my community, people I see every day. And I know that, as we all routinely quote Adam Serwer's line, the cruelty is the point. But damn it, it is cruel, and it's important to really dwell on what that means.

“We are issuing a death sentence to so many who have come to call this country home,” Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said at a press conference following the decision. That's because there were good reasons people from these countries were given TPS – they faced dangers in their countries of origin.

Many Haitians have been here long enough to have U.S. citizen children, and may now face the choice between keeping their children with them in a dangerous country they may never have even visited or finding ways for those children to stay in the U.S. even if it means separation.

Some have been seeking citizenship, and under a less racist administration would already have gotten it – people in Boston have literally been pulled out of line at a naturalization ceremony and denied citizenship they had already been approved for. (And bear in mind that they had spent thousands of dollars to get to that point.)

Yes, the cruelty is the point. The racism is the point. Making sure all people of color in the U.S. know that the president and the Supreme Court see them, too, as illegitimate Americans is the point. But when you're thinking about the intent, don't forget to think about the impact, about the very real human harms being done.