Trump Admin Moves To Pull Plug On Deportation Protections For Thousands Of Migrants

The Trump administration is moving to finally end temporary deportation protections for thousands of foreign nationals.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras and Nicaragua, according to two notices posted Monday by the Trump administration. The announcements mark the latest round of deportation protections President Donald Trump has attempted to scrub since returning to the White House in January. (RELATED: Democrats Try Taking ICE Agents’ Face Masks Away, Even As Officers Face Huge Uptick In Assaults)

“After reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the [DHS] Secretary has determined that conditions in Honduras no longer support its designation for TPS,” the administration said, which issued similar language in a separate announcement regarding TPS for Nicaragua.

“The Secretary, therefore, is terminating the TPS designation of Honduras as required by statute,” the administration continued.

TOPSHOT – Migrants illegally cross into the United States from Mexico via a hole cut in the border fence in El Paso, Texas, US on December 21, 2022. (Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

TPS is a federal authority, first established in 1990, that bestows sweeping deportation protections and work eligibility to certain foreign nationals living in the U.S., including illegal migrants, whose home countries are experiencing any number of conflicts or devastating natural disasters, making it potentially unsafe for them to go back, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is not a grant of permanent legal status.

Despite the temporary nature of the program, thousands of migrants under TPS have been able to keep living and working in the U.S. for decades because the government repeatedly extends their designations — as has been the case for Honduras and Nicaragua.

Both Central American countries were initially designated for TPS roughly 25 years ago on the basis of an environmental disaster that resulted in “substantial, but temporary” disruption of living conditions, according to the administration’s notices. Since that time, however, Honduras and Nicaragua have seen their TPS designations “continuously extended” over the years, with Nicaragua’s designation being extended a total of 13 consecutive times.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has sought to finally end TPS for the two countries.

During his first term, Trump’s DHS moved to end TPS for Honduras and Nicaragua, but were blocked by court challenges, according to the notices. The litigation dragged on and, eventually, the Biden administration re-designed both countries for TPS again in 2024.

“Based on the Department’s review, the Secretary has determined the conditions supporting Nicaragua’s January 5, 1999 designation for TPS on the basis of environmental disaster due to Hurricane Mitch are no longer met,” the administration said, issuing a near identical statement about Honduras. “While Hurricane Mitch was a sudden catastrophe that caused severe flooding and associated damage leading to Nicaragua’s TPS designation, the conditions resulting from Hurricane Mitch no longer cause a substantial, but temporary, disruption in living conditions in the area affected, and Nicaragua is no longer unable, temporarily, to adequately handle the return of its nationals.”

The administration added that both Honduras and Nicaragua have made “significant progress” in recovering from Hurricane Mitch’s destruction and that both countries are now enjoying popular tourism and other burgeoning industries.

Hondurans and Nicaraguans will lose their legal status in roughly two months, meaning they will be at risk of deportation by early September unless they obtain another status or a lawsuit blocks the administration’s efforts, according to the notice. Just under 80,000 Honduran and Nicaraguan nationals currently hold TPS in the U.S.

The Trump administration has also moved to end TPS for Haitian nationals and nix a Biden-era migrant parole program, affecting hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals living in the U.S., but both actions have been met with resistance in the courtroom.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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