7000 Nepalis may be affected
Kathmandu, Aug 21: A US federal court has granted a major relief to President Donald Trump’s administration by allowing it to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about 60,000 immigrants from Nepal and Central America. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco cleared the way for sending these immigrants back home.
Earlier, a lower court had blocked the move and ordered continuation of TPS for the affected groups. With the appellate court’s decision, the Trump administration now has the green light to terminate TPS for thousands of immigrants from Nepal and Central America.
About 7,000 Nepalis are covered by this ruling. Their TPS designation had already expired on August 5. Similarly, TPS for 52,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans will expire on September 8.
The Trump administration has long sought to end TPS, arguing that the program was never meant to provide permanent residency or asylum but was misused in that way by previous administrations.
What is TPS?
Temporary Protected Status is a legal designation granted by the US Secretary of Homeland Security to nationals of countries considered unsafe to return to due to natural disasters, political instability, or other extraordinary conditions. During this period, beneficiaries are allowed to live and work in the US.
Why the opposition?
Immigrant rights groups have strongly opposed the move. Nepalis had received TPS after the devastating 2015 earthquake. Hondurans and Nicaraguans were designated following Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
The Trump administration has already ended TPS for hundreds of thousands from countries including Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Cameroon. In May, the US Supreme Court upheld the decision to end TPS for Venezuelan nationals.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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