Court counters Homeland Security move to lift protection for 60,000 immigrants
A federal judge in San Francisco has extended Temporary Protected Status for approximately 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, at least until November.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem decided last month to revoke the status, saying conditions in those countries improved enough to no longer warrant Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, eligibility.
TPS provides work authorization and immunity from deportation to immigrants fleeing wars or natural disasters in their home nations. The designation was set to expire for Nepalese Aug. 5 and for Hondurans and Nicaraguans Aug. 8.
Countering Noem, Judge Trina Thompson ruled July 31 the plaintiffs in National TPS Alliance II v. Noem made a strong case when they claimed their protections were rescinded due to race. She scheduled a hearing Nov. 18 to consider the merits of the case.
“The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty and the American dream,” Thompson said. “That is all plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names and purify their blood.
“In totality, plaintiffs have produced sufficient evidence demonstrating racial and discriminatory animus in support of their Fifth Amendment claim. Color is neither a poison nor a crime.”
The Fifth Amendment provides for key legal rights, such the guarantee of due process
The administration … wages a mass deportation campaign against undocumented migrants and seeks to end birthright citizenship for those born in the United States to non-citizen parents.
The administration also has sought to terminate TPS for immigrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela, even as it wages a mass deportation campaign against undocumented migrants and seeks to end birthright citizenship for those born in the United States to noncitizen parents.
The Department of Homeland Security has been targeted in multiple lawsuits by groups of TPS recipients, resulting in delays imposed by federal judges. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with DHS in two cases.
“Judge Thompson’s editorializing is not only disgusting but also ignores the plain meaning of federal law,” the department said. “TPS was always intended to be temporary. Both Nicaraguan and Honduran TPS have been in place for over 20 years following natural disasters. Since then, the countries have made tremendous strides to recover, and as a result, it is safe for their nationals to return home.”
Terminating TPS helps keep the nation safe from immigrant criminals, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin added.
“This is yet another example of how out-of-control judges are race-baiting to distract from the facts and the president’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II,” she said. “We will appeal, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us.”
But any legal move the administration makes will be swiftly opposed, said Emi MacLean, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
“The Trump administration is aggressively, and illegally, seeking to dismantle TPS. But they will not do so without a fight,” MacLean said in response to Thompson’s ruling. “Today is a good day (because) 60,000 long-term residents of the U.S., who have followed all the rules, will be allowed to remain in the U.S. and continue to defend their rights inside and outside of court.”
The decision was a win for due process, said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy.
“Under the court’s order, these long-time lawful residents will have an opportunity to show that the federal government’s rush to strip their protections violates the rules Congress set in place.”
“These individuals have been working and contributing to their communities in the United States for decades. Under the court’s order, these long-time lawful residents will have an opportunity to show that the federal government’s rush to strip their protections violates the rules Congress set in place,” he said.
In her decision, Thompson drew connections between the revocation of TPS and the American slavery era.
“For example, the United States was an active participant in the transatlantic slave trade, which uprooted individuals in Africa and brought them to this continent,” she said. “The emancipation of slaves saw the same pattern, but in reverse. Many whites were uncomfortable with the idea of free nonwhite people in their communities, even if they had lived in the United States for generations.”
Recent polling, meanwhile, shows Americans are dissatisfied with the administration’s immigration policies as a whole, according to America’s Voice.
“Images of masked ICE agents violently detaining U.S. citizens and longtime residents; business voices highlighting the economic fallout of mass deportation; and the detentions and deportations of Dreamers and other long-settled immigrants are fueling the opposition to the mass deportation machine,” it said.
Gallup, for example, reported a significant majority of voters are opposed to current immigration policies.
“Perhaps because of Americans’ opposition to immigration policies that Trump has enacted to remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S., their evaluation of his work on immigration is mostly negative,” Gallup reported. “Thirty-five percent approve of his handling of the issue, including 21% strongly approving, while 62% disapprove, including 45% strongly.”
Among Hispanic voters, 80% disapprove of the president’s handling of immigration, while nine out of 10 support the creation of pathways to citizenship for some undocumented migrants, Gallup reported.
“Trump’s immigration approval is underwater, mass deportation is unpopular, and Americans are recoiling from witnessing it in action,” America’s Voice added. “When gauged head-to-head, legal status for undocumented immigrants is decidedly more popular than mass deportation.”
