Washington (United States) (AFP) – The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider the Trump administration’s bid to strip Haitians and Syrians of temporary deportation protections. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced plans to end so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. TPS protects its holders from deportation and allows them to work. It is granted to people deemed to be in danger if they return to their home countries because of war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances.
President Donald Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to expel millions of undocumented migrants, and his administration has pushed to dismantle the TPS program as part of its broader immigration crackdown. TPS status has been revoked for Afghans, Ethiopians, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Somalis, Venezuelans, and others in addition to Haitians and Syrians since Trump took office.
The conservative-dominated Supreme Court left the deportation protections for Haitians and Syrians in place until it hears the case. It set oral arguments for late April. A decision is expected in late June or early July. Haitians first became eligible for TPS in 2010 following a devastating earthquake, and the country continues to suffer from severe poverty, rampant violence from heavily armed gangs, and chronic political instability. TPS was extended to Syrians in 2012.
The Supreme Court ruled in October that the Trump administration can strip 350,000 Venezuelans of their TPS status. TPS was granted to Venezuelans under US President Joe Biden, whose government considered that of then President Nicolas Maduro to be a repressive leftist regime.
© 2024 AFP
