Trump could eliminate TPS for more than a million immigrants

Trump could eliminate TPS for more than a million immigrants.
Experts analyze the case.
Here the details.

More than a million immigrants in the United States could face the threat of deportation under President-elect Donald Trump’s policies.

Trump has promised to review and possibly eliminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that benefits people from countries devastated by conflict, natural disasters or humanitarian crises.

One of the most emblematic cases is that of Maribel Hidalgo, a Venezuelan who fled violence and political instability in her country with her one-year-old son.

After a dangerous journey through the Darien Gap in Panama and a long train trip through Mexico, Hidalgo and her son arrived in the United States, where they were benefited from TPS, which allowed them to stay and work legally in the country due to them. to the critical situation in Venezuela.

Trump could eliminate TPS for more than a million immigrants

Trump is promising mass deportations and says he will scale back the use of TPS (temporary protected status), which covers more than 1 million immigrants and allows people already in the US to stay legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe.https://t.co/UdmbhUEQq9

— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) November 15, 2024

Now, however, there is a possibility that the Trump administration could limit or eliminate TPS.

Hidalgo fears that everything he has achieved so far will be cut short.

“My only hope was TPS,” she says sadly as her son, now two years old, sleeps in a stroller outside the New York hotel where they live.

«My concern is that after everything I suffered with my son to get to this country, that they will send me back again.»

Trump’s threat and its impact on more than a million immigrants

More than a million immigrants with TPS fear deportation when Trump takes office.

Report: @luismegid. https://t.co/9mfjYg2hiP

— Univision News (@UniNoticias) November 16, 2024

TPS is a program that grants temporary protection to people from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and, recently, Lebanon, who are in the United States and whose situation in their countries of origin is considered dangerous.

The benefit allows immigrants to live and work legally in the US for a certain period, which is generally extended depending on the situation in their country.

However, President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have promised to review this program, pointing to the suspension of protection for more than a million people who currently rely on TPS.

At a rally in Arizona last October, Vance assured that they would eliminate TPS to «stop granting mass parole,» also referring to another immigration status known as «humanitarian parole,» which is equally at risk.

The foreigners who could lose the most with the elimination of TPS

Among TPS beneficiaries, Venezuelans, Haitians and Salvadorans are the largest groups and, therefore, those who would have to lose the most if this program is eliminated.

The situation in these countries remains serious, especially in Haiti, where gang violence has caused the Port-au-Prince international airport to be temporarily closed after an armed attack on a commercial flight.

“Sending thousands of people back to Haiti is not an option,” said Vania André, editor-in-chief of The Haitian Times.

«The country is not prepared to handle gang violence, much less able to absorb all of those people.»

The fight for TPS: a legal challenge on the horizon?

TPS was established in 1990 to protect immigrants from countries facing armed conflict or natural disasters.

Since then, the program has been expanded and renewed several times, but has never before been discontinued en masse.

If Trump decides to act, he could face legal challenges similar to those of his previous administration, when he attempted to eliminate TPS for several countries, including El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua.

However, the courts blocked that decision and the protection was renewed under the Joe Biden administration.

The future of TPS beneficiaries and the pressure on Biden

Although TPS is not a path to permanent U.S. residency or citizenship, it allows recipients to live without immediate fear of deportation and work legally.

Faced with uncertainty, many immigrants, like Elena, a Nicaraguan who has lived illegally in the US for 25 years, hope that the Biden administration will act quickly to designate a new TPS for Nicaraguans.

Currently, only 3,000 people are protected by the TPS granted in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch, but those who arrived more recently fleeing the oppression of Daniel Ortega’s government do not have that protection.

“President Biden must act now,” said Elena, who lives in Florida and asked that only her first name be used for fear of deportation. “Not in January. Not in December. Now.»

Meanwhile, the debate over TPS will continue, with the possibility of Congress or the courts taking action to stop efforts to suspend the program.

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