A California appeals court on Monday ruled that the United States (US) government, led by President Donald Trump, is within its rights to end humanitarian protections for more than 300,000 immigrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, and Sudan, by repealing their ‘Temporary Protected Status’ (TPS), which they have enjoyed for almost two decades.
The TPS program, which came into force in 1990, allows people from countries affected by severe conflict or natural disasters to obtain temporary legal status in the United States (US) and work in the country. Over the years, the program has granted protections to people from almost 20 countries, and currently, 300,000 individuals from 10 nations avail of its benefits. The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized the program and sought to terminate it, with the President reportedly even referring to its beneficiaries as “people from shithole countries”. A federal judge in California had ordered the government to halt its efforts to end TPS in 2018, ruling that the administration may have side-stepped guidelines and violated the Equal Protection Clause by basing its decision “on animus against non-white, non-European immigrants”.
However, in the 2-1 ruling yesterday, the judges said that, while they acknowledged Trump’s “offensive” comments, they did not find a direct link between them and the administration’s efforts to revoke TPS protections, adding that White House pressure on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the program was “neither unusual nor improper”. “While we do not condone the offensive and disparaging nature of the President’s remarks, we find it instructive that these statements occurred primarily in contexts removed from and unrelated to TPS policy or decisions,” US Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan, a George W. Bush appointee, penned in the majority’s opinion. The majority also said that the DHS “possesses full and unreviewable discretion as to whether to consider intervening events in making a TPS determination”.
However, this was challenged by Judge Morgan Christen, who said in her dissent that TPS terminations were not only reviewable but also that they were in violation of federal law. Judge Christen, who was appointed during Barack Obama’s incumbency, further pointed to the “monumental” consequences of the majority’s “deeply flawed” ruling, which would affect the lives of not only the 300,000 TPS holders but also their 200,000 children, who are US citizens by birth. The ruling also allows the US government to remove TPS designations for Nepal, Honduras, and 4 other nations, adding to the number of people at risk of losing protections.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Dan Hetlage said in a statement that the agency is “reviewing the decision and will announce updates as they are available”. The American Civil and Liberties Union (ACLU) denounced the ruling, but said that the decision would not take effect for another six months, meaning that Democratic candidate Joe Biden could reverse it if he wins in November. “We can stop Trump’s hateful actions”, the organization said in a tweet.
This impacts 400,000 people and their families in the U.S., but it won't take effect for 6 months. We can stop Trump's hateful actions.
— ACLU (@ACLU) September 14, 2020
We must:
✅Continue to fight in the courts
✅Demand an administration protect TPS holders
✅Pass the American Dream and Promise Act https://t.co/JKs8fAXl3h