Immigrants and Their Children Sue Trump Administration over End to Temporary Protected Status
Last Monday, the Trump administration allowed the DACA program to expire, although the program still exists for the time being due to federal court decisions in New York and California in favor of states suing to keep the program from ending. Now, immigrants and their children who had been granted temporary protected status — under a different program that provides residency to people whose countries had been ravaged by natural disasters, disease, or war — have begun their own legal battle against the Trump administration.
The AP reported that on Monday, that immigrants and five children from four different countries (Haiti, Sudan, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco today, suing the Trump administration for ending their protected status. The plaintiffs argue that decision to revoke their statuses is based in racism and leaves American-born children with an “impossible choice” — move with their families to places they don’t know or stay in the country of their birth.
In recent months, the government has ended the temporary protected statuses for residents from all four countries. Sudanese residents will have to leave the country by this November or else face deportation, as will Nicaraguans by January 2019, Haitians by July 2019, and El Salvadorans by September 2019.