The Department of Homeland Security has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan through January 2020, the result of a court decision that blocked the Trump administration from terminating the program and deporting them, and possibly their families and U.S.-citizen children, to unstable conditions.
But while plaintiffs and families celebrated the extension, their concerns also rested with others who are just as vulnerable but are facing even more uncertainty. “This extension gives space to breathe to some of us,” said Hiwaida Elarabi, who is originally from Sudan. “However thousands of TPS holders who are not included in this lawsuit are still in limbo without any court protections.”
Some of those immigrants have now filed their own lawsuit. "I'm taking part in this lawsuit not just for myself and my daughter but for everyone who would be hurt by our TPS being taken away,” said plaintiff Donaldo Posadas Caceres, one of the thousands of Honduran and Nepali immigrants also hoping the courts can grant them some relief.
Ultimately, what TPS recipients—along with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients—need is permanent relief. These are immigrants who have already had permission from the U.S. to live and work here, and the right thing to do is to put them on a road to legal status. House Democrats plan to introduce legislation protecting all three groups of immigrants this month.
Altogether, one million immigrants and their families, including U.S.-citizen kids, are affected by the Trump administration’s attacks on these programs. We already have a family separation crisis going on; DACA, TPS, and DED stand to spark the next one. “We need congress to act now,” Elarabi continued, “and ensure permanent protections for all TPS holders from 13 countries fighting to keep their families together.”