Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday she will phase out special legal protections for 57,000 Hondurans who’ve been in the U.S. for nearly two decades, giving them 18 months to finish up their affairs and return home or else risk being deported.
It’s the latest move by the Trump administration on Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian protection for people from countries that have suffered natural disasters. Past administrations routinely extended protections for years, but the new administration says it’s adhering closely to the law that says the status is only supposed to be temporary.
Hondurans have been protected since 1999, after Hurricane Mitch slammed into Central America.
Ms. Nielsen said the country has finally recovered from that disaster, so the reasons for the special protection have evaporated.
“Since 1999, conditions in Honduras that resulted from the hurricane have notably improved. Additionally, since the last review of the country’s conditions in October 2016, Honduras has made substantial progress in post-hurricane recovery and reconstruction from the 1998 Hurricane Mitch,” Homeland Security said in a statement announcing her decision.
Immigrant-rights activists had fought against the move, and berated Ms. Nielsen Friday for her decision.
Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said conditions in Honduras are still bad. He pointed to gang-infused violence and endemic poverty in Central America.
“Ending protections for Hondurans displaced by Hurricane Mitch sentences them to return to Honduras where many communities are terrorized daily by life-threatening violence,” he said.
Activists said the U.S. State Department currently warns Americans against visiting Honduras because of violence and gang activity, and wondered why a government that warns against visiting would force tens of thousands of Hondurans to return.
Administration officials acknowledge rough conditions in many TPS countries, but say that’s not part of the decision. Under the law, Ms. Nielsen says, she’s only supposed to look at whether the conditions from the original disaster that spawned TPS have been addressed. Endemic poverty or other rough home conditions can’t factor in, she says.
Frank Sharry, executive director at America’s Voice Education Fund, called the move “heartless and malicious.”
He said people who’ve been in the U.S. for nearly two decades have put down roots, often have American citizen children, and shouldn’t be forced to return to their homes.
He urged Congress to step in and pass legislation granting the Hondurans — and hundreds of thousands of others currently here under TPS from other countries — a pathway to citizenship.
Ms. Nielsen gave Hondurans an 18-month grace period to exit the U.S., saying that would give Honduras a chance to prepare to take back its citizens, and would give the people here a chance to wrap up their affairs.
Minutes after Ms. Nielsen’s announcement one group announced it was filing a lawsuit challenging her decision. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice said it saw believes Ms. Nielsen is engaging in illegal discrimination by ending the two-decade-old TPS.
Lawsuits have also been filed over Ms. Nielsen’s previous decisions to end TPS for other countries. Those cases are still in their early stages.
TPS applies to people who were in the U.S. at the time of a disaster in their home country, but who didn’t have a permanent legal status here. Students, other temporary visitors and even illegal immigrants are all eligible, and are given work permits signifying their ability to remain and hold jobs during their time here.
But analysts say in cases where TPS has been extended for years or even decades, it’s become a de facto immigration program.
Honduras has also become to the cash its citizens earn in the U.S. Nearly 18 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is remittances sent back home by Hondurans working in other countries.
Analysts said that’s one reason the Honduran government had pleaded with the U.S. to keep its citizens here.
Ten countries currently have TPS.
The Trump administration has announced an end to six of those countries: El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan, in addition to Honduras. Combined they account for hundreds of thousands of people.
The Trump administration has signaled it is open to Congress passing a bill to grant permanent legal status to longtime TPS holders, but efforts to come up with a specific proposal have stalled. Senators appeared to blindside President Trump with a plan during February’s immigration negotiations, helping sour the overall tone of that debate.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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