More immigrants face deportation

WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration may now focus on other categories of immigrants after eliminating the DACA program.

The next in the line of fire is perhaps the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries. This immigration law provision permits the administration to give temporary work authorization and safety from deportation to undocumented immigrants from some countries who are unable to return safely to their countries.

A country may get a TPS status for temporary conditions such as armed conflict, environmental disaster or an epidemic, and other extraordinary and temporary conditions.

Though the status is temporary, the beneficiaries end up living in the country for decades as the crisis back home continued in some cases.

“In the next six months, the Trump administration will weigh whether to extend the status for several countries whose immigrants have lived in the US for as long as 20 years—with a decision to end that status potentially upending their lives.

More than 440,000 people in the US are protected by the program, it is learnt.

Although India is no longer the designated country for TPS, its neighbor Nepal is. There have been instances in the past where individuals from India have taken the route from Nepal to stay in the US.

Apart from Nepal, other countries benefiting from the law include El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

In May, when the former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly extended the TPS by six months for eligible nationals of Haiti, he told them to prepare to go back to their home countries.

“During this six-month extension, beneficiaries are encouraged to prepare for their return to Haiti in the event Haiti’s designation is not extended again, including requesting updated travel documents from the government of Haiti,” Kelly said.

This warning, however, may be a hint for other benefitting countries, too, that the provision might not be continued under the current administration.