A U.S. District Judge decreed on Thursday to counteract a strategy put forth by the Trump administration, this decision impacts about 60,000 people from Asia and Central America. Individuals from countries including Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua benefit from this injunction. These people are under what’s known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a safeguard authorized by the Homeland Security Secretary for various nationalities present in the United States. It acts as a shield, preventing deportation and establishing legal work status.
The Trump Administration has shown a keen interest in dismantling such protectionist policies. The erasure of these protections would put individuals under TPS at higher risk of removal. This maneuver forms part of a larger scheme by the current office to expedite mass deportations of immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, has the power to extend TPS to immigrants in the country, contingent upon the volatile conditions in their countries of origin.
These conditions could range from climatic catastrophes to political unrest or diverse hazardous situations. Secretary Noem had previously decreed the cessation of protections for tens of thousands of immigrants from Honduras and Nicaragua. The secretary based her reasoning on the assertion that each respective home nation had evolved sufficiently since earlier catastrophes, specifically, 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, noted as one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history.
An estimated population of 7,000 individuals from Nepal was to lose their TPS by August 5. Moreover, 51,000 individuals from Honduras, alongside nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, residing in the U.S for no less than 25 years, would face a similar fate before September 8.
U.S. San Francisco District Judge, Trina L. Thompson, did not specify an expiration date but rather commanded to uphold the protections while the legal action continues. The subsequent hearing for this case has been slated for November 18.
Thompson acutely rebuked the administration in her order, stating they ended the TPS without a ‘thorough review of the home country conditions.’ She referenced ongoing political conflicts in Honduras and the recent spate of devastating hurricanes and storms in Nicaragua.
If TPS rescindment were to go through, the impacts on immigrants could be immense. Loss of employment, health coverage, familial separation and the dread of deportation to foreign nations where they have no connections are all potential fallouts. In a more extensive context, she noted the revocation of the TPS for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua might catalyze an economic downside of $1.4 billion.
The National TPS Alliance’s lawyers disputed that Noem’s decisions were swayed by President Trump’s electoral commitments and were propelled by racial prejudice. They further conveyed the dire circumstances in Nicaragua, where a significant populace has sought exile following governmental oppression of NGOs and imprisonment of political rivals.
The Republican administration’s broader strategy involves not only targeting illegal immigrants but also axing protectionist policies that granted temporary residence and work options in the U.S. The negative effects of this universal immigration crackdown are far-reaching and not confined to a singular group.
The Trump administration has previously ended the TPS for an assortment of nationalities, including about 350,000 Venezuelans, 160,000+ Ukrainians, half a million Haitians, and numerous Afghani and Cameroonian immigrants.
The administration’s legal defense contended that Secretary Noem possesses unequivocal authority over the TPS program and that her decisions mirror the reigning administration’s strategies and ambitions in the realms of immigration and international policies.
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