The Administration loses one and wins one on Temporary Protected Status

The Administration loses one and wins one on Temporary Protected Status

The administration is moving to expel from the country all those who entered under the TPS (Temporary Protected Status). It is also shutting down the program – except for white South African farmers. I am not clear under what circumstances are immigrants allowed to enter the country, how long they can stay and especially who is chosen to enter and who pays for it. 

What is TPS? This from the American Immigration Council:

“Congress created Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the Immigration Act of 1990. It is a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of specifically designated countries that are confronting an ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. It provides a work permit and protection from deportation to foreign nationals from those countries who are in the United States at the time the U.S. government makes the designation.  A TPS designation can be made for 6, 12, or 18 months at a time. At least 60 days prior to the expiration of TPS, the Secretary must decide whether to extend or terminate a designation based on an assessment of whether the conditions in the foreign country have materially improved such that the reason for the initial grant of TPS no longer applies. Decisions to begin, extend, or terminate a TPS designation must be published in the Federal Register. If an extension or termination decision is not published at least 60 days in advance of expiration, the designation is supposed to be automatically extended for six months. The law does not define the term “temporary” or otherwise limit the amount of time for which a country can have a TPS designation.”

The Administration loses one

The administration is seeking to end the status for various immigrant groups and deport them. When it sought to expel over 350,000 Haitians who entered because of earthquakes in that country in 2010, it was blocked by a Federal judge who delayed the process until there could be a judicial review. Now it seems to me that 15 years is a bit more than temporary which is what the administration was arguing. In his first term Trump attempted to end the status for Haitians, but it remained in place due to court rulings and injunctions. Biden then redesignated the Haitians for TPS in 2021. Homeland Security had said that “Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.” The judge had ruled that “Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the [Administrative Procedure Act] to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS Program.” The administration has also sought to revoke the status of those from the 12 countries currently eligible for TPS: Burma, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. Also, countries whose TPS status has expired have been ordered to leave the country. These include Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal, Nicaragua, Myanmar and Venezuela. These cases are also before the courts. So I guess this will be settled at the Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court had ruled previously that a TPS recipient who entered the United States without inspection is not eligible for permanent residence. In order to obtain permanent residence the person must leave the country, apply for a visa at a consulate. However, exiting the country would bar the person for re-entry for a period of up to 10 years. I have read of cases where TPS holders were preparing to leave the country and leave behind their children who were born here. Their children being US citizens. Of course, the Trump Administration is in court to contest birthright citizenship. But even if the Supreme Court rules for the Administration – which I doubt – it would probably not apply to those already with citizenship status.

The Administration wins one

In a separate case the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court’s order blocking Homeland Security from ending Temporary Protected Status for about 89,000 aliens from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. Homeland Security’s Kristi (Border Barbie) Noem said “TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades.” Noem also said “Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation.” Oh come now. This is a bit much. Why must this administration characterize TPS aliens in this manner? Certainly there were criminal elements admitted in this program but it is ridiculous to assert what the secretary is saying. More fundamentally, a review of the program is warranted without all the vindictive. Moreover, the case is not over for the 9th Circuit Court said in its order that it will determine whether to grant a stay pending appeal if the party asking for a stay has shown a strong likelihood “to succeed on the merits” of the appeal. Stay tuned.