On Monday, September 14, 2020, a Federal appeals court ruled to uphold the Trump administration’s decision to end humanitarian protections for immigrants from 4 countries. These protections, granted under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, provide a stay of deportation and a work permit to citizens of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. The decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will affect some 300,000 immigrants living and working in the United States.
TPS began in 1990, when Congress granted the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security discretion to designate countries for protection based on adverse country conditions. Countries can be designated for TPS if they are confronting an ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. These designations allow citizens from affected countries to remain in the United States until normalcy has returned in their home country. El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan had all been granted TPS designations from previous administrations. In 2017 and 2018, when these designations were set to expire, the Trump administration decided to terminate their protected status.
Since that time, TPS recipients from these countries have been embroiled in Court proceedings, attempting to save the program. Plaintiffs from the affected countries filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration, alleging that racial animus toward “non-white, non-European immigrants” motivated the TPS terminations. In 2018, a Federal Judge in California issued a preliminary injunction, buoying the program temporarily.
The recent ruling from a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rescinds the injunction, clearing the way for the potential deportations of affected immigrants. In response, Plaintiffs in the case vowed to “exhaust every legal recourse at [their] disposal,” to ensure the continuation of TPS. The case will be appealed to the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. As it currently stands, it seems likely that the case will eventually reach the United States Supreme Court, which can decide the ultimate fate of the protections.
Some recipients affected by this decision have lived in the United States for upwards of 30 years. TPS recipients are valued members of their communities. By virtue of the requirements of the program—which recipients must apply and qualify for—these individuals are law-abiding, generally admissible, immigrants. This decision will cleave families with deep community ties apart, impacting many U.S. citizen children. Upwards of 200,000 U.S.-citizen children of TPS recipients will have to decide between remaining in their home country and returning with their families to countries they have never known.
Not only will this decision devastate countless families, it will have wide-reaching impacts societally, as well. The Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan think tank, reports that more than 130,000 TPS recipients are essential workers in our pandemic economy. In the fragile COVID-19 economy, this decision could prove fatal. Additionally, policy experts fear that these decisions will imperil the relative stability of global affairs. This decision, they say, will forcibly expatriate hundreds of thousands of people into politically destabilized areas, with potentially disastrous consequences.
The upshot of these developments is that hundreds of thousands of TPS recipients will be issued deportation orders, and enter removal proceedings. Of course, since these individuals have willingly cooperated with USCIS for years, they are easy targets for ICE. This will only further burden the Executive Office for Immigration Review (Immigration Courts), which is already inundated with removal cases. TPS holders should expect delays and protracted immigration court battles.
Paschal Nwokocha & Chukwu Law Office urges immigrants to reach out to knowledgeable immigration attorneys when confronted with immigration problems. .If you think this decision may affect you, you can schedule a consultation on our website, www.paschal-law.com.