The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for US President Donald Trump's administration to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants of a humanitarian status that protects them from deportation, giving another boost to his hardline approach to immigration.

The court, in a 6-3 ruling driven by its conservative justices, overturned decisions by federal judges in New York and Washington, DC, that had halted the administration's move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians.

TPS is a designation that allows migrants from countries stricken by war, natural disasters or other catastrophes to live and work in the United States while it is unsafe for them to return to their home countries. The United States first granted TPS to Haitians after a major earthquake in 2010 and to Syrians after their country descended into civil war in 2012.

The court also backed Trump in a second immigration-related decision on Thursday involving policy toward asylum seekers.

(With input from Reuters)