Unlawful to Revoke Migrant Protections, Court Declares
The bid by the previous government to revoke the legal protections of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan and Haitian migrants has been deemed illegal by a US judge.
Impact on Temporary Protected Status Program
The District Judge's ruling counters the effort by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate the temporary protected status (TPS) for individuals from nations where returning is considered hazardous. The decision is expected to benefit approximately 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians, allowing them to continue living and working legally in the US. The DHS has shown intentions to challenge this ruling.
The TPS program, initiated by Congress in 1990, was designed to offer temporary protections to migrants from countries afflicted by war and natural disasters.
The Judge's Opinion
In his detailed 69-page ruling, the judge argued that the DHS Secretary's move to revoke the migrants' protected status was not only unusual in its execution and speed but was also against the law. He added that the circumstances in the migrants' home countries are so perilous that even the State Department discourages travel there.
Reacting to the court's decision, a representative from the DHS criticized the TPS program for being manipulated and politicized as a permanent amnesty program and indicated that they would reassess their legal options. The representative added that activist judges, who are not elected, cannot undermine the American people's desire for a safe and secure homeland.
A Look at the TPS Program
About 600,000 migrants from Venezuela, the largest country included in the program, currently have TPS. The program was also extended to include Haiti, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Ukraine by the previous president. However, when the previous president returned to office earlier this year, he sought to reverse these extensions and even tried to completely eradicate Venezuela's designation.
In line with the former president's campaign promise to tighten immigration rules, the previous government announced in March that it would revoke the temporary legal status of over half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. These migrants were instructed to leave the US before their permits and deportation shields were canceled in late April.
Legal Challenges and Future Implications
The National TPS Alliance and Venezuelan TPS holders launched a legal challenge against the previous government and the DHS earlier this year, alleging that the DHS Secretary lacked the authority to single-handedly reverse the extension approved by the preceding administration.
In May, a Supreme Court ruling permitted the previous government to terminate the TPS program for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. However, the District Judge clarified in his recent ruling that the Supreme Court's decision only addressed temporary relief he had ordered and did not prevent him from issuing new orders.
In a separate but related development, a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled that the previous administration cannot proceed with cuts to foreign aid. This decision necessitates swift action by the administration to allocate funds to projects approved by Congress. The administration has withheld around $4bn in funding designated for the US Agency for International Development.