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President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a quasi-amnesty program, for more than 75,000 migrants from Honduras and Nicaragua.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that about 75,000 Honduran and Nicaraguan migrants living in the United States on TPS would have to return to their home countries.
TPS was first granted for Nicaragua after a natural disaster in 1999. Likewise, the federal government granted TPS for Honduras following Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
“Temporary Protected Status was designed to be just that — temporary,” Noem said.
About 72,000 Honduran nationals reside in the United States thanks to the decades-long TPS designation. DHS officials are encouraging Hondurans leaving the country to use the CBP Home mobile app, secure a complimentary plane ticket, and receive a $1,000 exit bonus.
“It is clear that the Government of Honduras has taken all of the necessary steps to overcome the impacts of Hurricane Mitch, almost 27 years ago,” Noem said:
Honduran citizens can safely return home, and DHS is here to help facilitate their voluntary return. Honduras has been a wonderful partner of the Trump Administration, helping us deliver on key promises to the American people. We look forward to continuing our work with them. [Emphasis added]
Meanwhile, about 4,000 Nicaraguan nationals — most of whom have been in the United States since the late 1990s when TPS was first designated — will have to return to their home country and are similarly encouraged to use the CBP Home app and secure benefits as a result of their exit.
“Temporary Protected Status was never meant to last a quarter of a century. The impacts of a natural disaster impacting Nicaragua in 1999 no longer exist,” a DHS official said in a statement. “The environmental situation has improved enough that it is safe enough for Nicaraguan citizens to return home. This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that TPS remains temporary.”
TPS has become a sort of quasi-amnesty created for migrants under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 (INA).
Since the Clinton administration, TPS has been transformed into a de facto amnesty program as nearly every president has routinely extended it and designated new countries for TPS status.
Former President Joe Biden expanded TPS to the highest levels in the program’s history — ensuring that over a million migrants became eligible for the quasi-amnesty.
