NEW YORK — Maribel Hidalgo made the arduous journey from Venezuela a year ago, taking her 1-year-old son with her as they traversed the treacherous Darien Gap of Panama and traveled across Mexico en route to the United States.
Once in the U.S., Hidalgo received news that the Biden administration would provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Venezuelans, enabling those already in the country to remain and work legally if their home countries are considered dangerous. TPS relief currently extends to individuals from 17 different countries, inclusive of Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan, and more recently, Lebanon.
In contrast, President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have pledged mass deportations and hinted at reducing the TPS program, which currently benefits over a million immigrants. They have propagated unfounded stories suggesting that Haitians protected by TPS in Springfield, Ohio, were harming local pets, while Trump also amplified questionable claims regarding Venezuelan gangs taking over a local apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
“What Donald Trump has proposed doing is we’re going to stop doing mass parole,” Vance shared at an Arizona rally in October, mentioning another immigration status called humanitarian parole that could also be affected. “We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status.”
Hidalgo was visibly emotional as she recounted her experiences with a reporter, her now 2-year-old son resting in a stroller outside their migrant hotel in New York. Approximately 7.7 million individuals have fled Venezuela due to political upheaval and economic hardship, marking one of the largest displacements globally.
“My only hope was TPS,” Hidalgo lamented. “I worry that after everything I endured with my son to reach this country, they might send me back again.”
Among TPS beneficiaries, Venezuelans, along with Haitians and Salvadorans, represent the largest demographic and have significant stakes in the program’s future.
This week, Haiti’s international airport was forced to close after gangs fired upon a plane landing in Port-Au-Prince concurrent with the inauguration of a new interim prime minister. Consequently, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a 30-day prohibition against U.S. airlines flying into Haiti.
“It’s creating a lot of anxiety,” expressed Vania André, the editor-in-chief of The Haitian Times, which focuses on news relevant to the Haitian community. “Sending thousands of people back to Haiti isn’t feasible. The country is currently overwhelmed by gang violence and is not in a position to absorb those who would be returning.”
The designations granted by the Homeland Security secretary can offer up to 18 months of relief, though they are often extended. The TPS designation for El Salvador is set to lapse in March, with the designations for Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela scheduled to expire in April, while others will end later.
Federal regulations do allow for a designation to be revoked before its expiration; however, this has never happened in practice, and such a move requires a 60-day notice period.
TPS resembles the lesser-known Deferred Enforcement Departure Program, which Trump had previously utilized to benefit Venezuelan exiles during his final months in office, protecting 145,000 individuals from deportation for 18 months.
Attorney Ahilan T. Arulanantham, who has successfully challenged prior efforts by Trump to let TPS designations lapse, is skeptical about the president-elect’s intentions.
“It’s possible that some within his administration may recognize that withdrawing employment authorization from over a million people, many of whom have established lives here for years, could be detrimental,” Arulanantham, who teaches at UCLA Law School and assists in running its Center for Immigration Law and Policy, noted. “However, nothing in Trump’s prior actions demonstrates that policy considerations are likely to influence their plans.”
Legal challenges previously halted terminations of TPS designations for Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua, and El Salvador until well into President Joe Biden’s administration, when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas renewed those protections.
Arulanantham suggested that he could “absolutely” envision another legal battle, depending on the actions taken by the Trump administration regarding TPS.
Established by Congress in 1990 amid the civil war in El Salvador, TPS aims to protect nationals from countries experiencing ongoing conflict or disaster. Early designations included individuals fleeing violence during warfare in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kuwait, as well as survivors of genocidal atrocities in Rwanda and those affected by natural disasters in Montserrat in the mid-1990s.
Although TPS does not provide a direct path to U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, recipients have the opportunity to seek status changes through other immigration processes.
Advocates are urging the Biden administration to create a new TPS designation for Nicaraguans prior to the end of Biden’s term, as fewer than 3,000 individuals currently benefit from the original protections granted in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch. Newer arrivals fleeing oppression under President Daniel Ortega lack similar safeguards against deportation.
“It’s a moral obligation” for the Biden administration to act, asserted Maria Bilbao of the American Friends Service Committee.
Elena, a 46-year-old Nicaraguan who has lived in the U.S. without legal status for 25 years, is anxious for Biden to act swiftly.
“He should do it now,” urged Elena, who resides in Florida and preferred only to share her first name due to fears of deportation. “Not in January, not in December, but now.”