Since the start of his term in office, Donald Trump has attacked immigrant communities. In his latest attack, Trump has been targeting immigrants seeking asylum based on natural disasters and other protected humanitarian issues. In a win for the Trump administration, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Trump’s decision to take away legal protections from immigrants in at least six countries. The 2-1 ruling lifts a block placed on the administration on ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS); as a result up to 400,000 immigrants could be deported next year, should Trump be reelected.
Individuals seeking asylum from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan have been granted the ability to stay in the U.S. for years through TPS. TPS is a protection that is offered to citizens of countries experiencing armed conflict and natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. It allows eligible immigrants to both live and work in the U.S. For current TPS holders the ruling means individuals must find other means to stay in the U.S. or leave the country within six months. Those on TPS status do not have a pathway to legal residency or citizenship without leaving the country.
This decision will affect thousands of families and, as the Trump administration has continuously done, separate them from one another. The argument to end TPS comes from the Trump administration’s claims that the emergency conditions causing individuals to come to the U.S. are no longer prevalent. According to the administration, those from El Salvador, Haiti, and Sudan specifically no longer need asylum in the U.S. While the ruling lifts the block against the administration, it does not allow the protections to end immediately. The Trump administration has agreed to maintain TPS until at least March 5, 2021, for some.
According to NBC News, if reelected Trump could remove people from Sudan, Nicaragua, and Haiti in March and those from El Salvador by November 2021. "To end protections for ... TPS families, including the more than 130,000 people who have been risking their lives as essential workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, would be very cruel; especially during these difficult times," Paul Andre Mondesir, lead organizer for the National TPS Alliance, said in a statement, according to NBC News.
The upcoming election proves crucial for this issue and the country’s progress. According to Vox, at least 130,000 essential workers and more than 10,000 medical professionals are living with TPS. Additionally, more than 270,000 children born in the U.S. under the age of 18 live with TPS recipients. “Temporary Protected Status is on the ballot in November,” Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant advocacy group said. “And if we do not remove Trump ... we could see one of the largest mass deportations and family separation crises in American history.” Most of these children have never been to the country their parents are from, NPR reported.
Two out of the three-panel judges also ruled against the allegation that the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS was racially motivated. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have argued that the move was racially motivated and against non-European or non-white immigrants, Vox reported. "While we do not condone the offensive and disparaging nature of the president's remarks, we find it instructive that these statements occurred primarily in contexts removed from and unrelated to TPS policy or decisions," Judge Consuelo Callahan, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, wrote. Callahan argued that the administration’s decision to remove the protections was receivable and should not have been blocked.
According to NPR, the plaintiffs and their lawyers said on Monday that they are preparing to appeal the decision and could also ask the Supreme Court to take up the matter. “It’s a really devastating day for hundreds of thousands of people who have lived and worked in the country lawfully for decades,” Tom Jawetz, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress said.
