Feds Are Pulling TPS From Hondurans, Nicaraguans

The Trump administration is ending the temporary status for nearly 80,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans that has allowed them to live and work in the US for more than a quarter of a century after a devastating hurricane hit Central America, according to federal government notices—a move that comes as the White House pushes to make more immigrants in the US eligible for deportation.

• The Department of Homeland Security said Monday in the Federal Register—in a notice set to become official on Tuesday—that Secretary Kristi Noem had reviewed conditions in Honduras and Nicaragua. She concluded the situations there had improved enough since the initial decision in 1999 that people currently protected by those temporary designations could return home, the AP reports.
• The department estimated that roughly 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans in the US are covered by the status that will now expire in roughly two months. However, the TPS Alliance, which advocates for immigrants covered by these temporary protections, estimated that about 40,000 Hondurans would be affected because many had obtained legal residency through various immigration channels.

• Temporary Protected Status is usually granted when conditions in someone's home country make it difficult to return. People covered by it must register with the Department of Homeland Security, and then they're protected from being deported and can work. However, it does not grant them a pathway to citizenship, and the secretary must renew it regularly, often in 18-month intervals. Critics say that successive administrations—especially the Biden administration—essentially rubber-stamped the renewals.
• TPS for both nationalities expired on Saturday. The notices said the protections will be terminated 60 days after the notices are officially published in the Federal Register. When their status officially ends, Hondurans and Nicaraguans currently covered by TPS can be deported, and their work permits will be terminated if they can't find another avenue to stay in the country.
• "Temporary Protected Status was designed to be just that—temporary," Noem said in a statement, per the New York Times. DHS said Honduras had recovered from Hurricane Mitch and "is now a popular tourism and real estate investment destination."

• Advocates described the move as cruel, noting that it will affect people who have been building lives in the US for almost 30 years. "This move by the Trump administration will cast tens of thousands into precarious situations, not to mention the follow-on repercussions for employers and communities who have relied on many from Honduras and Nicaragua who have been living and working here for years," said Robyn Barnard of Human Rights First, per the Times.
• The Trump administration has already terminated TPS for about 350,000 Venezuelans, 500,000 Haitians, more than 160,000 Ukrainians, and thousands of people from Afghanistan, Nepal, and Cameroon. Some of them, including Venezuelans, Haitians, and Ukrainians, have lawsuits pending in federal courts.