US court overturns decision to terminate legal status of 60,000 immigrants
Kyiv • UNN
A federal judge in California has invalidated the Trump administration's decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. This ruling will allow TPS holders from these countries to legally work in the US and avoid deportation.
A federal judge in California on Wednesday invalidated the Trump administration's decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, calling it a "predetermined decision." CBS News reports this, writes UNN.
Details
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced the termination of TPS programs for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua in June and July, stating that these three countries had recovered from the environmental disasters that led the U.S. government to grant their citizens temporary legal protection.
Enacted by Congress in 1990, TPS policy allows the U.S. government to temporarily grant certain foreigners protection from deportation and work permits if their home countries are experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or another extraordinary emergency that makes return unsafe.
In late July, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson delayed the termination of TPS programs for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, having previously concluded that the Trump administration had failed to consider the ongoing problems in these three countries and that the decision to terminate the programs was motivated by racial bias or animus. In August, an appeals court stayed that decision, allowing the Trump administration to proceed with the terminations.
However, on Wednesday, Thompson issued a final summary judgment, finding that the attempt to strip tens of thousands of Honduran, Nepalese, and Nicaraguan nationals of their legal status was unlawful. She stated that Nielsen's move "was predetermined and pretextual, rather than based on an objective review of country conditions as required by the TPS statute and the Administrative Procedure Act."
The record clearly demonstrates that even before taking office, the Secretary made a predetermined decision to terminate TPS and influenced the process of assessing country conditions to facilitate the termination of TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.
TPS statuses for Honduras and Nicaragua were first implemented in the late 1990s following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch, which killed thousands in Central America. Many of those who were previously part of these programs arrived in the U.S. more than two decades ago. TPS policy for Nepal was established in 2015 after a deadly earthquake in the small Asian country.
The Trump administration aggressively sought to dismantle most TPS programs, arguing that the policy attracted illegal immigration, was abused by Democratic administrations, and had been extended for too long. It also initiated the termination of TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela.
CBS News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Wednesday's decision.
Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the UCLA Immigrant Rights Center, said Wednesday that the ruling should allow TPS holders from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal to work legally in the U.S. and prevent their detention and deportation by federal immigration authorities.
"Today's court decision restores TPS protection for thousands of law-abiding long-term U.S. residents from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua who have TPS status," Arulanantham said.